THE WINDOWS FILE #10 -- June 30, 1992 A weekly electronic newsletter devoted to news and views on Windows 3.1 -- Edited by David DeJean, ably assisted by Mark Hessman and Frank Schroth Table of Contents *1 THE BASICS: SWAPFILES, MORE DE-INSTALL WHINES, WORDPERFECT FORUM CHANGES *2 HANDS ON WINDOWS: COMPATIBILITY AND PRODUCTIVITY *3 FUN AND GAMES: A CC:MAIL DOODAD *4 WINDOWS APPLICATIONS AND PRODUCTS If you are reading this file in a text editor, you can move directly to each section by searching for "*1", etc. Entire contents Copyright (c) 1992 by Ziff Communications Company. All rights reserved. Material may not be reproduced or distributed in any form without permission. ================================================================ ABOUT THE WINDOWS FILE THE WINDOWS FILE is ZiffNet's one-stop shopping place for the information you need about Windows. It is updated weekly and posted in the PC Extra library (Library 10, Hot News) in two versions -- text for reading on-line , and a zipped file for downloading. This newsletter draws its contents from the publications and news sources represented on ZiffNet, including PC Week and PC Magazine and NewsBytes, and from the forums in ZiffNet and CompuServe where Windows is discussed. THE WINDOWS FILE is prepared by the editors of ZiffNet. Supervising editor for this edition is David DeJean [76000,12]. We want to hear from you, and we'll be on-line in the PC Extra Forum's Operating Systems section; please communicate your questions, comments, complaints and experiences with Windows and Windows-based applications. ================================================================ *1 THE BASICS: Section Contents: >1 More than Enough about Swapfiles >2 More Non-negotiable Demands on De-Installs >3 Where to Find It: Changes in the WordPerfect Forums ------------------ >1 More than Enough about Swapfiles (and 32-bit access) If you have a system that is capable of operating in enhanced mode (a 386 system with 2MB of RAM) you are singularly blessed with headaches and heartaches other Windows users do not need to concern themselves with. There are two features of Windows 3.1 that can bring on these ailments, swap files and 32-bit access. When operating in enhanced mode, Windows can swap data out of memory to a swap file on your disk when conventional memory becomes full. Essentially it is using hard disk space to provide additional memory or what is now called virtual memory. The swap files that take advantage of virtual memory can be temporary or permanent and typically they are created when you run Windows Setup. And there's the rub. The average user either is presented with the choice when the install Windows and have no idea what the considerations are or they received their machine with Windows pre-installed from the hardware vendor who made the choice for them. So what are the differences between temporary and permanent swap files? And how big should they be? And do you really need one at all? Are there any other considerations? (yes) When Steve House (76010,314) asked, ". . .right now with no swap file at all. Should I change that? What are the criteria used to make the decision?" Someone suggested, "Try a swap file see what happens. A perm swap file should perform better than a temp one." How's that for an answer? And then there's that little 32-bit access box tucked away in the deepest recesses of the Control Panel. What's that got to do with anything? In a nutshell, if your system is operating in enhanced mode you may be able to take advantage of 32-bit access. 32-bit access allows your system to bypass the BIOS when shoveling information around. This improves performance, particularly when using DOS applications under Windows. However, not all systems can handle it. This is discussed in more detail below. The following Q&A addresses the issues to considered when implementing swap files and 32-bit access on systems that operate in enhanced mode. More likely than not, this means you. Q. -- What is the difference between a temporary and permanent swap file? A. -- Temporary swap files are dynamic. That is, their size fluctuates relative to the amount of hard disk space that is available on your system at a given time. If you select to create a temporary swap file, Windows will handle the size. If you elect to create a permanent swap file, Windows will analyze your system and recommend a swap file that is half of your current hard disk space. However, as Barry Schnur (70007,4653) noted in WFIL07, both the size of the drive and available RAM seem to be variables here. Generally, you would use a permanent swap file if you wanted to guarantee that a certain amount of space would always be available as virtual memory. The other difference is speed. Permanent swap files take advantage of contiguous clusters and therefore tend to operate faster than temporary swap files. However the speed differential can be greatly diminished if you routinely defrag your hard disk. Q. -- Do I need a swap file at all? A. -- In general Microsoft tech support personnel are saying yes, but the most lucid and helpful advice we've found is Lenny Bailes, who wrote in the April 28, 1992 issue of PC Magazine: "Generally, you will achieve the best performance under Windows by establishing a permanent swap file. This allows Windows to page information to and from disk faster than it would with a temporary swap file. However, you can make Windows run faster by disabling the swap file entirely. The drawback to this technique is that you will have no virtual disk memory and Windows will be limited to the extended memory available on start-up. If you have only 1MB to 2MB of extended memory available, you may get "out of memory" messages if you attempt to open more than one window for DOS. If you have plenty of extended memory available--say 8MB or more--or plan to run only one or two applications during a session, you should have no problems. Windows will definitely run faster without a swap file." Nat Bowman (75300,3127) of Microsoft Product Support Services also suggested considering the following: (1) The swapfile, be it temporary or permanent, is used when Windows requires additional RAM. If you have a lot of hard disk access while running your apps, you're probably running out of physical RAM. So Windows is swapping out code/data from physical RAM to virtual memory (the swapfile) to free up physical RAM. (2) TrueType (TT) fonts use RAM. Each time you start Windows, we build a font cache in RAM. Essentially, we are pre-building your TT fonts to give you the increased speed performance. If you have a lot of TT fonts loaded, this might also affect your RAM usage. As a test, you might compare your current free memory with TT fonts enabled vs when they are disabled. (3) Different apps use different amounts of memory depending on what you are doing, specifically, within each app. If you work a lot with bitmaps, high resolution graphics, and large palettes in one application, and I work with text and a few fonts in the same application, then you would definitely need the use of a permanent swapfile. NOTE: Use the Control Panel to make any desired changes in your swap file settings. DO NOT USE DOS COMMANDS to delete 386SPART.PAR, SPART.PAR, or WIN386.SWP from your hard disk. Q. -- How do I find out what type of swap file I have, if any? How do I change my swap file settings? To view your current swap file settings: - Run the Control Panel - Double-click on 386 Enhanced - Click on virtual memory Your current settings are displayed. NOTE: If you are going to make a change, you should defragment your hard disk first--regardless of the type of swap file you are going to use. To change your settings click on Change. You can now change the drive on which your swap file resides. If you have more than one hard drive, put your swap file on the faster of the two. You can change the type of swap file or opt for "none." If you opt for a permanent swap file, you can then specify the size. Windows will recommend a size that is half of what is available. You can override the recommendation but keep in mind the following that nothings free. By setting up a permanent swap file you are restricting resources that may be needed by other programs at a future point in time (for more information on this issue see the related question, What About Stacker). The permanent swap file you create will be given the name "386spart.par." Lastly, you will notice a 32-bit access box at the base of the screen. More about this below. Q. -- Can I put my swap file on a RAM disk? A. -- A lot of users have this question and it begs another -- Why would you want to do that? As Dave Aultman (72277,164) says, "it would be pointless to put the swapfile on RAMDISK, since you'd be using memory to simulate memory, rather than using disk space to simulate (increase) memory." But Windows users and their sense of curiosity is overwhelming. So for those of you who just got to know Nat Bowman (75300,3127) of Microsoft tech support refers you to KnowledgeBase article Q83583, Windows 3.1 Does Not Allow Swap File on Stacker Drive. The Stacker reference aside, this article states that "The Microsoft Windows operating system version 3.1 does not allow a temporary or permanent swap file to be set up on a STAC Electronics Stacker drive or a RAMdrive...." That's the official position. However, Mark Stevens (71357,233) of Entek Scientific tells you how to do it anyway. "The Windows control panel will not let you set a swap file to a RAM drive but you can still do it. Set up a small TEMPORARY swap file on your hard drive and then exit windows. Edit your system.ini file and change the swapdrive or pagingdrive to the letter of your ram disk. This worked for me. It is true, however, that a permanent swap file can NOT be set to a RAM drive." Q. -- What concerns, if any, should I have when creating a swap file on a disk that has Stacker? The following is a synopsis of information that first appeared in WFIL07: If you want to use a swap file with Windows, you must set up the swap file on the uncompressed drive. When setting up Stacker, you can leave at least 1 megabyte (MB) of disk space uncompressed for storing system files. To leave enough space for the swap file, it is recommended that the amount of uncompressed disk space equal at least twice the amount of system memory. For example, if your system has 4 MB of memory, you should leave at least 8 MB of disk space uncompressed. Chuck Schwarts (70323,2072) said rather emphatically, "DON'T make the permanent swap file until after you run Stacker." Presumably the reason being that if you make the permanent swap file first there may not be necessary space for your stacvol, which is sizable. Q. -- Are there any problems I might encounter? A. -- Only if you don't do what you are supposed to. Clifford Tong (70761,674) had set up a permanent swap file and then in a "moment of desperation to get more disk space" backed up his swap file using PCbackup. Now when he starts Windows in enhanced mode he gets an error message that says his swapfile is corrupt (which is why you shouldn't use anything other than the Control Panel to modify your swap file settings). When he tries to start in real mode he receives a message saying that some program is running and has to be closed. Michael Weintraub (70033,751) suggested trying the following to put his house in order. "Edit (use SYSEDIT) your win.ini and comment out the load= and run= statements, exit, start win /R, do your swapfile stuff, uncomment win.ini lines, restart win, should work... " Q. -- What is the 32-bit access box for and why is it buried where no one can find it? Nat Bowman (75300,3127) of Microsoft tech support explains 32-bit access as follows: "32-bit disk access is a system of Windows components that allows Windows to talk directly to the hard drive controller, bypassing the BIOS. This is beneficial in that disk access is speedier, you can run more non-Windows apps, and system speed is faster when running non-Windows apps in background. "I've noticed a speed improvement when the system is running with many apps open. It's not that noticeable under normal conditions, at least from my observations." What he doesn't address is why, if it's so nifty, did they put it where no one can find it? Well, perhaps it is a reflection of the degree of confidence they have in it. After reading everything we could find, we came up with the following facts: When you run Windows setup, it analyzes your system to determine if it can handle 32-bit access. If Setup finds that your system can handle it, the 32-bit access box will be available and you can check it off. If it finds it can't, it will grey out this option. The determining factor in whether or not you can use 32-bit access is the type of hard disk controller you have. Hard disk controllers that are 100% Western Digital 1003 compatible can safely accommodate 32-bit access. The reason that the default is set to off can be summed up in an excerpt from Microsoft document "WW0530: SMARTDrive and 32-Bit Access." It states, "There are drives that appear to be WD1003 compatible but are not, and which cannot be detected by WDCTRL (the 32-bit access device). In addition, there can be problems even with compatible controllers on some portable computers, specifically those that power down the hard disk to conserve power without telling the running software. If the disk is powered down and then back up while it is being tracked by WDCTRL, the tracking information will be incorrect, and serious damage can result." So don't say we didn't warn you. Q. -- So how can I find out if my system is compatible? A. -- The only way to do it responsibly is to delve down into the Control Panel and see if the box is available. If it is, then back up your hard disk and check the box, and take advantage of it. We attempted to find out as much as we could. Needless to say most vendors simply repeated back to us what we already knew. Here is what we were able to find out. When Dennis Fowler (76217,34) ran Windows 3.1 with 32-bit access enabled on a Gateway 2000 386sx with 4MB of RAM, a Seagate ST3144A 130 megabyte IDE hard drive, and a Silicon Valley IDE 16 bit card (ADP20), he received the error message that the disk driver (WDCTRL) validation failed at phase 03, 00. To Microsoft's credit, they built in a fairly thorough error-trapping routine that your system runs through. If it doesn't think that your system is compatible, it will complain and refuse to cooperate as it did for Dennis. Chris Vega (70152,3066) reported that "I have a Seagate drive 3144a and I have been told that it is not supported by the western digital specification used by Windows 3.1. I have changed the box back to normal." Andrew J. Frankel (76117,2331) has a Plus Development XL105 Hardcard. He called Quantum/Plus Technical Support. "They said that the XL105 with the v1.70 ATDOSXL.SYS driver *does* support Win 3.1 32-bit Fastdisk access. They claim that they have several test systems running Win 3.1 with the XL105 and 32-bit Fastdisk access turned on with no problems." We contacted Dell Computer. Ron Clark (76702,1601) from Dell Technical Support states, "The only systems we do not recommend using the 32-bit access on are the portable systems. The power saving features and Fastdisk are not completely compatible; there is a chance of drive corruption when the drive is returned from the Standby Mode. As for the D, P, DE, and SE system models, you can use the 32-bit access successfully." We contacted other manufacturers but they didn't report anything conclusive. So on that note we will bid you adieu. If you want additional information on swapfiles and 32-bit access, the following Microsoft documents are helpful. WW0530 is very good. From the Microsoft KnowledgeBase (GO CIS:MSKB): DOC ID# - Q82730 "Why the Swap File is Written to at Startup in Windows 3.1" DOC ID# - Q82373 "Permanent Swap Files and the Disk Partition Table" From the Microsoft Software Library (GO CIS:MSL): WW0530.ZIP "SMARTDrive and 32-Bit Disk Access" WW0335.ARC "Memory Management with Windows" -- FS ------------------ >2 MORE NON-NEGOTIABLE DEMANDS ON DE-INSTALLS We've said it before. Too many Windows programs, like terrible two-year-olds, make messes they don't clean up. They scatter files across directories and inflate the size of INI in irresponsible ways, and worst of all, if you try to delete a program, these parts of it -- large parts, often -- won't go away. In THE WINDOWS FILE #5 We reprinted Bill Machrone's rules for well-behaved Windows apps from the May 26 PC Magazine. Other voices are beginning to be heard as well. One Windows user frustrated by garbage files has invited others with the same sentiments to make their voices heard. John Wilson (70650,2522) posted this proclamation to the WINAPA forum: Last weekend, after fighting over products that quit working with Windows 3.1, I did the unthinkable....I backed up my disks to tape, reformatted them and reinstalled everything from the original floppies! In the process, I gained about 15 MB of disk space and I am STILL running everything that I was running before! It's now time to _INSIST_ that Windows Developers do the following: -- Every Windows application should come with a DE-INSTALL. It can be on the disks and not installed, but it should clean up after the corresponding INSTALL and undo entries in the various control files! -- No INSTALL should modify ANY control file _UNLESS_ we can review/modify their suggested changes AND explicitly approve the modifications! I think Microsoft is already trying to do this with some of products and I applaud that! It's time the others do the same. -- Procedures should install _ONLY_ the drivers we require. If I need another one, I can certainly put the floppy disk back in. The ability to check what you have is there. The install procedures should check your hard disk and act accordingly. Wilson concludes, "If you agree, tell the vendors of the products you use. Let them know that we're unhappy with the state of the mess they're making." Meanwhile, tangling with an obsolete copy of TOOLHLP.DLL left Dale Ogden (76044,3556) equally fed up with the sloppiness of most Windows application installers. He posted his own manifesto in the ADOBE forum: -- All major applications are entitled to one and only one directory that can be named anything that _I_ want (I like 2 or 3 letter names best; no first level directory on my disk has more than 4 letters, e.g. WP, XL, WIN, 123, WPW, UTL, WORD, 4DOS). -- The application can create logical subdirectories, but they should use short names; there will be no ambiguity, so why use long names? In no event shall a subdirectory have an extension like in "ABCDEFGH.XYZ" (yechh!). -- No related files can be placed in any other directories. No INI files in the Windows directory; no DLL files in the Windows directory. The application should be smart enough to find its own files. -- Utilities and system enhancements like Adobe Type Manager with only a few files may be placed in another directory, like C:\WIN\SYSTEM. That's two more voices raised. And we're beginning to assemble a pretty clear list of what a well-behaved Windows application should do to make a graceful exit. If you've got any suggestions or additions, please pass them along to THE WINDOWS FILE at 76000,12. This is a movement in the making! -- MH and DD ------------------ >3 WHERE TO FIND IT: CHANGES IN THE WORDPERFECT FORUMS The WordPerfect Support forums, perhaps more properly known as WSPGA and WSPGB, have undergone renovation. There will now be a single forum, WPUSERS. It became operative June 23. TapCIS users especially will want to note the changes in library and message section structure; re-joining the forum (with Alt-J) is the easiest way to revise the PARAMS.xxx file. The new structure is as follows: Message Sections Libraries 1 WordPerfect DOS 1 WordPerfect DOS 2 Printers/Fonts DOS 2 Printers/Fonts DOS 3 DTP/DrawPerfect 3 DTP/DrawPerfect 4 Macros/Merges DOS 4 Macros/Merges DOS 5 WordPerfect Windows 5 WordPerfect Windows 6 Printers/Fonts WIN 6 Printers/Fonts WIN 7 Macros/Merges WIN 7 Macros/Merges WIN 8 Office/Mail/Nets 8 Office/Mail/Nets 9 DataPerfect 9 DataPerfect 10 Other WP Products 10 Other WP Products 11 Newsletters/Books 11 Newsletters/Books 12 3rd Party/Utilities 12 3rd Party/Utilities 13 WP Magazines 13 WP Magazines 14 WordPerfect 5.0/4.2 14 WordPerfect 5.0/4.2 15 Not in use 15 Not in use 16 Graphics 16 Graphics Library 17 Village Inn 17 Forum Info/Misc For complete descriptions of the message sections, see the Messages announcement (ANN;3 from any Forum prompt). For complete descriptions of the libraries, see the Libraries announcement (ANN;5 from any Forum prompt). ================================================================ *2 HANDS ON WINDOWS Section Contents: >1 The Compatibility Report >2 Productivity Ins and Outs ------------------ >1 THE COMPATIBILITY REPORT 1-2-3 VERSION 3.1 (Lotus) -- Running this spreadsheet in a DOS box may not give you access to all the memory that's available, or even as much memory as the program can use when run straight from DOS. If this happens, a Lotus forum sysop advises that "before you fire up Windows, set 123MEMSIZE=xxxx, where xxxx is the amount of memory, in KB, that you want 1-2-3 to be able to access." 1-2-3 FOR WINDOWS (Lotus) -- Want 1-2-3 for Windows to default to a maximized window when starting up? Mark Magnan (76117,3436) suggests putting {window-state "maximize"} in the first line of the AUTO123.WK3. He follows this by Alt-F C to clear the WKS and retain the maximized window. ADOBE TYPE MANAGER (Adobe) -- The most recent version, ATM 2.02, is an interim upgrade which corrects 32-bit DLL problems and communication with some PCL printers. Also, the new upgrade to Adobe Illustrator (v4.0) apparently requires this upgrade to ATM. ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR (Adobe) -- If a General Protection Fault consistently crops up when you try to run Illustrator 4.0, check your WINDOWS and WINDOWS\SYSTEM directories for outdated versions of TOOLHLP.DLL. The correct version is dated 3/10/92 and is 14128 bytes long. If your copy of Illustrator 4.0 won't run because of a GPF in the enumerator (module PS_ENUM.DLL), one possibility is a corrupted PostScript Type 1 font. Michael Sh of Adobe (76704,21) advises that these fonts be removed if they are installed on your system in such a situation. Look for FrizQuadrata Bold, Gothic Text Italic, Sans Heavy, or Gypsy. If you have any one of these files installed, remove it and all should go well. Another possibility, Sh continues, is that the font directory is nested too deeply in the subdirectory structure; if you have a lot of fonts, move the directory closer to the root and see what happens. CROSSTALK FOR WINDOWS (DCA) -- There is a bug in the CSERVE script of version 1.2.1 which causes the program to log off of CompuServe automatically after only 30 seconds of inactivity. There is a corrected script available in the CROSSTALK forum's Library 10 (GO CIS:XTALK); also, you should also upgrade to the 3.1-compatible version, 1.2.2, of Crosstalk for Windows. DRAW 3.0 (Micrografx) -- Several users have had trouble using the ClipArt files that came with Draw. Some of the files that were installed are inexplicably not available in the File, ClipArt menu. The solution is to choose File, ClipArt, Catalog, Add, then highlight the previously unavailable files and click OK. EMAIL FOR WINDOWS (Da Vinci) -- eMAIL v2.00 for Windows will ship "sometime this summer", according to Da Vinci's Kevin Sonney (76702,1054). EXCEL (Microsoft) -- To create a multi-line data label, press Alt-Enter wherever the line breaks should go. When the label is displayed, those line breaks will be intact. If you have the need to re-install Excel, make sure you start the install program with File, Run, . Anything else--using Browse, for example, or anything that creates an Open dialog box--will load COMMDLG.DLL into memory, giving the install program no end of trouble when it tries to copy that very file. One quirk in Excel's WYSIWYG-ness is that scaling a chart dramatically in one direction or the other will also scale the graphic elements but not the fonts. Michael Holden (72530,1544) recommends a workaround which avoids resizing: "Do NOT maximize the chart window!" Another option, recommended by Microsoft technical support, is to change the Page Setup options for the chart from the default Scale to Fit Page to Print as Size on Screen. Excel ensures that two people don't load the same file by writing the equivalent of an "In Use" message to a file when it's opened; the disadvantage of this technique is that it automatically sets the archive bit on all files accessed in this way. If your backup program thinks that apparently-unchanged Excel files need to be saved, this is probably why. To run other Windows programs from an Excel macro, use the EXEC command. A parameter determines whether the program being executed will be minimized, maximized or simply open upon its startup. FONTMONGER (Ares) -- Several "nasties" were discovered in the recent release of Fontmonger. There is now a patch available in the Desktop Publishing Forum (GO DTPFORUM), in the PC DTP Utilities library (lib 6); file name is FM101.ZIP. INTERMISSION (ICOM) -- Intermission 2.0 will work, but intermittently, with Windows 3.1. Certain modules will experience problems; to solve this, upgrade to Intermission 3.0. The upgrade is $9.95 plus shipping and handling and can be ordered by calling 800-877-4266. NORTON BACKUP (Symantec) -- According to MultiSoft tech support, Norton Backup will not work with their PCKwik cache installed. Both MultiSoft and Symantec are working on the problem, which may or may not also crop up with other caching programs. ONTIME (Campbell Services) -- A new upgrade to this popular Windows calendar program will be out during the summer; Campbell's Ben Forta (75300,1555) says that those who "buy [the program] now will get a free upgrade" when the new version is released. PACKRAT (Polaris) -- To change the Month View's screen fonts, change the PackRat section of WIN.INI by adding "MonthViewFontSize=" to it, replacing "" with the size you would like the fonts to be set to (default is 8). This works with version 4.007 of the program. PAGEMAKER (Aldus) -- The Windows 3.1 Clipboard's new Rich Text format may not work with import filters for PageMaker. One solution, reported by a Sysop of the Aldus forum, is to use Windows Write as an intermediary. A PageMaker import filter for Excel 4.0 is also not yet available; once again, Windows Write can serve as a go-between, or the Excel file can be saved in Excel 3.0 format without any problem. Neither is there a filter to import GIF-format images into PageMaker. The suggested solution is a piece of shareware called WinGIF, which translates from .GIF to PageMaker-friendly .PCX format. If the spell-checker in PageMaker is using unexpected fonts such as Symbol for its dialog, go to Edit, Preferences and look at the typeface selected for the Story Editor; it is likely that the font selected is not actually installed. Select an installed font and return to the program. PCKWIK (MultiSoft) -- The latest version of this caching program, 4.13a, fixes several quirks in PCKwik's behavior with respect to Windows 3.1; a patch to bring version 4.13 up to par is available in MultiSoft's library (Library 14 of PCVENA on CompuServe) as 413TOA.ZIP, or can be ordered by calling 1-800-888-5945. PC TOOLS 7.1 (Central Point) -- The WINLAUNCH program included with PC Tools does not work under Windows 3.1, report Windows technical support. An update, date-stamped 4/8/92, will work with 3.1; it is available on Central Point's BBS (503- 690-6650) and on their CENTRAL forum on CompuServe. PICTURE PUBLISHER (Micrografx) -- Picture Publisher version 3.1 is about to be released, and will start shipping by the end of June. Owners of PP 3.0 can upgrade for $49.95 by calling 1-800-733-3729 x5050; those who bought PP after May 1 will be able to receive 3.1 for just the shipping & handling charges. Grant Wickes (76427,2227) of Micrografx explained some of the features of the upgrade in the WINAPA forum: "Version 3.1 fixes the text drawing on 256-color displays...New features include an ImageBrowser (visual thumbnails of your files); Advanced Editing (affects the editing tools by allowing additive, subtractive or other color effects); Stitching (ideal for hand scanners); JPEG compression; OLE, TWAIN and Kodak Photo CD support; and a new Convert To dialog box." POWER LAUNCHER (hDC) -- A bug in Power Launcher 2.0 has manifested itself. hDC's Tech Note on the subject says "Under certain conditions, changes made to the Powerbar buttons are not saved, and the Powerbar button reverts to the previous button. The newly assigned command works, however. To insure that changes are saved, try the following steps: Start out by NOT running Power as your shell, as you'll have to open and close it a couple of times. Change the problem buttons' icons to something completely different (for example, NOTEPAD.EXE). Close Power Launcher by dropping down the system menu and choosing Close. Reopen Power Launcher and change the buttons to what you want them to be. Close the app by dropping down the system menu and choosing Close." PROCOMM PLUS FOR WINDOWS (Datastorm) -- Some users have been experiencing problems installing Procomm Plus for Windows. Several have worked around the problem by installing the program from the File Manager instead of Program Manager. Larry McKinley (73707,1100) of Datastorm Tech Support posted two situations that seem to cause INSTALL to fail. These are (1) if the .DLL files in the Windows SYSTEM directory are write protected (this can be checked with the ATTRIB command from DOS -- these files need to be Read/Write enabled); and (2) if the SET TEMP environment variable has spaces in it. A line such as "SET TEMP = C:\WINDOWS\TEMP" will cause this failure, whereas "SET TEMP=C:\WINDOWS\TEMP" won't generate an error. Jack Hobbs' (70413,1606) installation problems seem to be due to an incompatibility between Procomm Plus for Windows and the third party memory managers 386MAX and QEMM. When Datastorm suggested removing them and using EMM386, he was able to install Procomm. He reports, "When I booted up using QEMM or 386MAX, I got these error messages: Install-Loader Unable to copy installation files Possible causes -- You don't have the distribution disk 1 in the drive, Not enough disk space on your temp drive, Not enough memory for the loader to run. After correcting the problem please try again. "When using EMM386.EXE, Procomm Plus for Windows' INSTALL.EXE works fine. Actually, I only verified that I could get as far as the first install screen (instead of the error message)." There have been rumors that Procomm for Windows has a conflict with SMARTDrive. Paul Heim (74066,635) of Datastorm claims that "SMARTDRV.EXE (the 4.0 one) is doing beautifully with Procomm Plus/Windows here -- though I have turned off its cached writes, which I understand to be good operating practice in a communications program." However, errors can arise. Randall Kennedy (76437,1041) lucidly explains why: "The Windows 3.1 comm.drv is considerably less reliable than 3.0's during interrupt-intensive operations like SMARTDRV.EXE's background disk writes. This causes it to drop characters at high speeds on slower systems, or even higher-end systems that are using older (8250 or 16450) UARTs. These dropped characters (really UART overruns) appear as CRC errors in PCPlus/Win. Since PCPlus/Win is considerably more sensitive to such errors than most of the Windows 3.0-era comm apps, it seems more susceptible to the garbage that 3.1's comm.drv is sending its way. It'll often perform multiple retries during the span of time that other apps would still be chewing on the original error. Thus, it often looks as if all hell is breaking loose under PCPlus/Win, but in reality, it's just a whole lot pickier about the integrity of the data stream. But the source of the problem is the Windows 3.1 comm.drv itself. The only real solution is to install a serial port with a 16550 UART (or upgrade your current UARTs if they're accessible). This eliminates the root cause of the problem, interrupt latency during disk I/O under Windows." A lot of Windows users have contemplated Procomm Plus for Windows because they want to have efficient background downloading. Dave Gibbons (73707,1100) of Datastorm Tech Support mentions that "there really *aren't* a lot of things to tweak to insure good background downloads. You have the high-speed modem, a reasonably fast machine, and Procomm Plus for Windows, so you're pretty much set." Meanwhile, the ubiquitous Randall Kennedy (76437,1041) claims that "the single most important thing you can add to your system to enhance background downloading is a 16550AFN UART chip. The 16550 has a 16byte buffer that it uses to store incoming data while the CPU is busy and interrupts are disabled. It will increase the overall performance of Procomm Plus for Windows as well as the reliability at high speeds and in the background. And at around $15.00, the chip is a cheap, plug & play replacement for your 8250/16450 *if* they're the genuine National Semiconductor, full-sized chips, *and* they're socketed. Otherwise you may need a new serial port card or a good desoldering station." Ronald Leon (71035,2707) reported that while a script is recording, he gets a message saying that PW.EXE has caused an error. Then he gets asked whether to IGNORE or CLOSE the application. Regardless of the choice, Procomm for Windows just closes down and disappears. This is a known problem in the script recorder, according to Chuck Spohr (75140,710) of DataStorm. "When we try to record a prompt that's more than 80 characters (due to embedded ANSI sequences), an internal buffer is overrun and wreaks havoc. We don't yet have a fix for you, but a temporary workaround is to disable the BBS's ANSI support and then record the script. Once you're done recording, you can re- enable ANSI." REPEAT PERFORMANCE -- There is a known bug when using Repeat Performance with Windows 3.1. If you load Windows 3.1 with Repeat Performance in your CONFIG.SYS and attempt to run a non-Windows program, the non-Windows program will not accept keystrokes. The only solution seems to be the standard three-finger salute. This problem does not exist with Windows programs. Daniel C. Hunt's (74255,524) concern on this issue was with the loss of the keyboard speed Repeat Performance provided. Bob Beck (72707,1765) offered a workaround: "I've never found a reliable way to make Repeat Performance work with Windows. However, all is not lost. Use the Keyboard option under the Control Panel icon and set the Delay Rate and Repeat Speed to the maximum. The result probably will make you forget all about RP." TASK MANAGER (Metz) -- Version 2.0 of this program has just been released earlier this month; Art Metz (75300,1627) cites the new version's "improved...file management...online help and a user manual, [and] many, many new features." It solves problems that have been reported under version 1.04, including a problem with refreshing directory listings and a File, Switch To inaccuracy. According to Metz, "Any registered Metz Software user (any product) can order the Task Manager 2.0 upgrade for $19.95 plus shipping...[to do so] call us at 800-447-1712 or 206-641-4525." TOOLBOOK (Asymetrix) -- If Daybook won't let you update it to reflect the current year, download the upgraded DAYBOOK.SBK from Asymetrix's library (Library 1 in WINAPA). WINFAX (Delrina) -- Last issue we mentioned a couple of products that were not getting along with Delrina's Winfax Pro; WordPerfect and AmiPro have been revealed as two others. However, there are patches: PTCHC2.ZIP (if you have a Class 2 modem) and PTCAS.ZIP (if you have a CAS modem) are available from Delrina's forum (WINAPB, Library 16). Barbara B. Nixon (70214,353) provided help on speeding up the Winfax printing process: "Change the WINFAX.WRS file so that it is `read only'... [this] does not change how the printer driver works, it just speeds up the 'updating' message by several minutes." WORD FOR WINDOWS (Microsoft) -- A filter, XLBIFF.CNV, to deal with communication between Microsoft Word v2.0a and Excel 4.0 is reported to be available in the MSWORD forum. WORDPERFECT FOR WINDOWS (WordPerfect) -- Removing Duplicate WPWIN and WP51 Files: A lot of WordPerfect users maintain both DOS- and Windows-based versions of that product (don't ask us, we use XyWrite). Not surprisingly, they are interested in conserving hard disk real estate. The good news is that, according to Chuck Schwartz (70323,2072), "you can use the same speller and thesaurus files if you set the file locations in WPWIN [to be] the same as WPDOS." The other bugbears in terms of disk space are the .ALL files. Whether these can be deleted depends upon your setup. Jim Clifford (72567,1611) explains that ".ALL files are rarely, if ever, needed after the appropriate .PRS files are created. I think an exception would be if you went out and bought a WP- supported font cartridge and needed to update the .PRS file, then WPWin/WP-DOS would need access to the appropriate .ALL file. As someone who deletes .ALL files with a passion, I know from personal experience that you *may* need to reload one or more of them at a later date." Regarding fonts, there are the following caveats, as told by Chuck Schwartz (70323,2072): "Anyone using Glyphix fonts under WP-DOS *must* keep the .ALL file, since Glyphix a) modifies the file and b) looks to it each time it updates." Likewise, Dave LeFevre (70272,2053) advises that if you are using Morefonts, "keep the .ALL files around, because [the program] modifies them with the font information, and you probably don't want to go through that again if you have a lot of fonts. Also, keep your .ALL and .PRS files separate for WPwin and WP-DOS, because any TrueType, ATM, Bitstream, etc. fonts you added in will not work with DOS; only the MicroLogic fonts themselves [will] (though there is a converter for ATM if you call MicroLogic)." The Case of the Vanishing Options: Peter Guest (100014,1320) reported a disappearance. "A friend with WPWin has a problem! The Retrieve and Password options have simply vanished from his FILE menu. Ideas, please?" The intrepid Bob Beck (72707,1765) solved the case: "If [his copy of WordPerfect for Windows] is the 11/04/92 version, your friend probably has the short-menu option checked. Have him click on it to deselect the option and the missing items will magically reappear. The 04/30/92 version does not have a short-menu option on its pull-down menu." Getting WordPerfect to Hop Instead of Crawl: A lot of WordPerfect users have commented on how dreadfully slow it is. There are a couple of tricks you can try to get it to move along. Ron White (72241,574) offered the following suggestions: "First, increase your RAM. Four megs is OK, but I've notice more speed with even just 5MB, and now I'm using 16 megs and I'm a happy person. (A lot of users are recommending 8 megs and the *really* effective minimum.)... Running in Standard Mode does speed up WP-Win. Second, [go] for a Windows video accelerator board. Make sure your disk is defragmented... Little things you can do to speed up the program: run in draft mode and turn off display of graphics." Oscar E. Gunther (70610,1161) found that a fresh installation of Windows 3.1 (vs installing it over 3.0) improved the speed of WPWin. This tip was passed on to him by WordPerfect tech support. ------------------ >2 PRODUCTIVITY INS AND OUTS ____ICONS____ --> FROM PCX TO ICON -- A shareware icon creator, Icon Manager, uses Paintbrush to grab parts of .PCX files and convert them into .ICO icons. Would-be icon designers can find this program in the ZiffNet Utilities Forum (GO ZNT:UTIL) as ICOMGR.ZIP in Lib 10 (Windows). ____FILE MANAGER____ --> COPYING IS A DRAG -- If you copy files to/from disks using the mouse (dragging the icon to the appropriate target), Windows will subsequently consider that target drive to be the current drive and will look to it before searching other disks. The workaround is to select the hard drive yourself after dragging and dropping. ____PROGRAM MANAGER____ --> COME OUT OF YOUR SHELL -- Outdated SHELL.DLL files can cause system errors under certain situations. Jeff Armstrong (75300,3130) of Microsoft Tech Support posted the following summary of a Tech Support note that had not yet made it into the Microsoft KnowledgeBase: Program Item Properties Causes 'Call to Undefined Dynalink': Choosing the Change Icon button in the Program Item Properties dialog box in the Microsoft Windows version 3.1 operating system may cause the following error message to appear if the SHELL.DLL file is dated prior to 3-10-92: Call to Undefined Dynalink To update the SHELL.DLL file: Expand the SHELL.DLL file from the original Windows 3.1 disks (Disk 4 of the 1.44-MB 3.5-inch disk set, and Disk 5 f the 1.2-MB 5.25-inch disk set) to the \WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory. To do this, at the MS-DOS command prompt, type the following: EXPAND [drive1]:\SHELL.DL_ [drive2]:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\SHELL.DLL where "drive1" is the drive designating the location of the Windows 3.1 disk, and "drive2" is the drive on which Windows 3.1 is installed. Then remove any SHELL.DLL files that may exist in the \WINDOWS directory. ____FONTS____ --> AMAZING SIZABLE FONTS -- Here's a handy primer on customizing Windows' font sizes, brought to you by John Woram (72470,47): To change Cardfile, Notepad text size, change line in [boot] section of SYSTEM.INI: fixedfon.fon=VGAFIX.FON to =EGAFIX.FON or =8514FIX.FON To change group window, menu bars, SysEdit text, change this line in [boot] section of SYSTEM.INI: fonts.fon=VGASYS.FON to =EGASYS.FON or =8514SYS.FON Or, add following line(s) to [Windows] section of WIN.INI to override the installed xxxSYS.FON file: SystemFont=fontname.FON (must be raster or vector font) SystemFontSize=xx (valid only with raster fonts) To change the icon font, add these lines to [Desktop] section of WIN.INI: IconTitleFaceName=Arial (or whatever) IconTitleSize=xx To change File Manager directory tree font, add/change [Settings] section of WINFILE.INI: Face=Times New Roman (or whatever) Size=xx xx=desired point size. Items 1 and 2 above show changes to the default VGA system. Items 4 and 5 sometimes only work IF the specified font is NOT a raster font. In other words, use a TrueType font here to make sure the line is having an effect. Then, try other fonts if you like. ____WIN.INI/SYSTEM.INI____ --> A DOS ATTEMPT -- If you have DOS programs that stubbornly refuse to work in Windows, here's something to try: add the line "VirtualHDirq=Off" to the [386enh] section of SYSTEM.INI, and do a reboot. --> ALT-PASTE-DELAY -- From the Windows Resource Kit, an explanation of SYSTEM.INI's AltPasteDelay setting and what it does: AltPasteDelay= Default: .025 Purpose: Specifies how much time Windows waits before pasting any characters after the ALT key has been released. Some applications may require more time for recognition of the ALT keystroke. To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file. ____ACCESSORIES____ --> PAINTBRUSH -- If you can't load relatively large bitmaps in Paintbrush, check your hard disk; Paintbrush creates temporary files to help it work with an image. If you have less than 2 MB free, try deleting unused files or compressing rarely-used ones to free up more space. ____SMARTDRIVE____ --> WRONG WRITE CACHING -- Contrary to what seems to be popular opinion, SMARTDRV C- is not the setting to disable write caching; this setting disables caching of all kinds, read and write both. SMARTDRV C will disable write caching, while keeping read caching intact. --> SMARTDRIVE AND DISK COMPRESSION, ROUND 2 -- After the melee between SmartDrive and Stacker, a new complication has arisen: SuperStor, a disk-compression product from Addstor. The latest news on its compatibility with SmartDrive follows. -- Do not use SuperStor version 1.3 in conjunction with SmartDrive 4.0. -- If you have version 2.00 of SuperStor, you can upgrade for free to version 2.04 (recommended). The file can be found on [Addstor's] BBS at 415-324-4077. The filename is WINSMDRV.ZIP. -- DO NOT CACHE THE COMPRESSED PARTITION! CACHE ONLY THE HOST DRIVE/UNCOMPRESSED PARTITION. ____COMMUNICATIONS____ --> CHECKING YOUR UART CHIP -- James McDaniel (72241,322) has alerted us to a shareware program called Port Finder. He explains: "Port Finder is designed to be run from your AUTOEXEC or CONFIG.SYS (before you start up Windows) where it will activate COM3 and 4 and place those values in the low BIOS areas. If you run Port Finder on a 386 system in the Enhanced mode, PF will detect and display the correct UART type." The file is in ZiffNet's Tips & Utilities Forum, Lib 16. The filename is PRTFND.ZIP ____NETWORKS____ --> NWPOPUP? NWSHUTDOWN? -- WINADV forum members have compared notes on a Win 3.1/Novell NetWare 3.11 incongruity: Receiving several NWPOPUP messages (without clearing them) can result in a crash when the network drive is next accessed, for example, by a DIR statement. One user claimed it a bug in NETX version 3.26. --> WAITING FOR THE LITE -- In response to a user's query, a Microsoft technical support person confirmed that NetWare Lite is not currently supported by Windows 3.1. It is possible to use 3.1 with NetWare Lite, but the results can best be described as "shaky." Windows support for NetWare Lite in the future is uncertain. ____HARD COPY____ --> THE WINDOWS FILE BOOK REVIEW -- John Gould (100015,3564) has some advice on the subject of Windows programming books: "'The Windows API Bible' by James Conger [has]...nothing on the important bits [of] 3.1 (OLE, Drag & Drop, DDE Manager, Common Dialogs)...so avoid it. Petzold ['Programming Windows'] is very good...and Martin Heller's 'Advanced Windows Programming'...is a good companion to it." [Note: The third edition of Petzold's book will be published by Microsoft Press in September. -- MH/FS] ____GENERAL____ --> WARM, COLD, OR JUST RIGHT -- Your system has crashed, and so you press Control-Alt-Delete to start it up again. But the 'three-finger salute' won't work; you've got to press the reset button on the machine itself to get it going. Why? Andy Silverman, on the WINADV forum, expounded on the difference between warm and cold boots: There are [many] differences. . .between a cold and warm boot. In particular, many programs need to detect the fact that the user performed a Ctrl-Alt-Del to restore the state of the machine to a point where the system's boot BIOS can take over without the hardware being in an unexpected state. For example: If you use Smartdrv's write caching, and something was in the cache but not flushed to disk yet, Smartdrv detects the warm boot, flushes the cache (putting up a "Waiting for system shutdown" message) and then allows the reboot to occur. If you use EMM386, QEMM, 386Max, or that ilk, these programs need to detect the reboot so they can switch out of V86 mode and back into genuine real mode so as not to confuse the strictly real- mode BIOS which is going to reinitialize the interrupt vector table, reset all the hardware, etc. I'm not sure, but HIMEM may try to disable A20 if it was enabled at reboot time before allowing the reboot to occur. I'm not sure if HIMEM does this or not, but it seems like the sort of thing it's likely to do. --> CAN'T INSTALL WINDOWS FROM INSIDE WINDOWS?? -- Pattie Schultz (70003,4621) had installed Windows 3.1 and wanted ensure the proper network was loaded. When she ran Windows Setup from the Control Panel, she received the error message "Can't install Windows 3.1 from inside Windows, please run Setup...". Ed Hubbard (75300,3131) of Microsoft Tech Support provided the solution as contained in KnowlegeBase article #Q85366, which hasn't yet been posted publicly. "Maintenance Mode of Setup does not run from inside Windows: "If the path statement does not include the drive letter for the Windows subdirectory, the user may not be able to run the Windows Setup Icon (Windows Setup) from within Windows. "A path statement such as: PATH=\;\DOS;\WINDOWS;\ETC will not allow the Maintenance Mode of Windows Setup to run from within Windows. This occurs only if Windows was started in a directory other than the Windows directory. If the following error message appears: Windows Setup You are attempting to setup Windows 3.1 from within Windows. Quit Windows and type 'setup' at the MS-DOS command prompt. OK "edit the path statement in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file to include all drive letters (for example: PATH=C:\;C:\DOS;C:\WINDOWS;C:\ETC). "The same result occurs when trying to run SETUP by double- clicking SETUP.EXE in File Manager, and also by including the path for Windows in Program Manager Properties dialog box. "For SETUP.EXE to determine if it should run the Maintenance Mode or in the Full Installation Mode, SETUP.EXE looks for WINVER.EXE. SETUP.EXE also needs SETUP.INF, located in the \SYSTEM subdirectory. This error message occurs because SETUP.EXE is looking for WINVER.EXE and cannot find it due to the incomplete path. "Starting Windows in the Windows subdirectory will not display this error message, since SETUP.EXE can find the needed files." --> TO TROUBLESHOOT, USE A CLEAN BOOT -- Increasingly, Microsoft Tech Support has been recommending a clean boot when assisting users to troubleshoot their problems. We thought it might be helpful to pass along their particular definition of a clean boot. CLEAN BOOT ---------- CONFIG.SYS device=c:\windows\himem.sys files=60 buffers=20 (third party disk partitioning driver(s)) AUTOEXEC.BAT prompt $p$g path c:\windows;c:\dos;c:\ set temp=c:\windows\temp If MS-DOS 5.0 is being used, the CONFIG.SYS should appear as follows: CONFIG.SYS device=c:\dos\setver.exe device=c:\windows\himem.sys files=60 buffers=20 shell=c:\dos\command.com c:\dos\ /p /e:2048 (third party disk partitioning driver(s)) Special notes: The RUN= and LOAD= lines in the WIN.INI file should be free of entries. If either of these lines contain an entry, a ";" character can be placed at the beginning of the line to comment out the line from use. Third-party drivers -- video drivers, keyboard drivers, etc. -- should be disabled. Third- party add-ins, such as font managers and operating shells, should also be disabled for testing. ================================================================ *3 FUN & GAMES A brand-new DooDad was unearthed this week by the eagle-eyed Bruce Ansley, who found a lively DooDad in an unlikely spot -- cc:Mail for Windows. Bruce writes: "Dear Windows Wizard, "I've uncovered a DooDad in cc:Mail for Windows 1.1 & 1.11. Choose 'About cc:Mail' from the Help menu. Move the mouse pointer into the 'About cc:Mail' dialog box but not over the 'OK' button. When the pointer turns into a question mark (?) click the mouse button once and enjoy the show. A cc:Mail logo flies into view and a movie-style screen credit to the programmers scrolls by, finished by swirling shooting stars." This is the first reported DooDad sighting in a Lotus program, and as the Windows Wizard knows, DooDads travel in . . . bunches. (If a bunch of geese is a gaggle, is a bunch of DooDads a giggle?) Keep a close eye on Ami Pro, 1-2-3 for Windows and Lotus Notes in the next couple of weeks. Report something extraordinary, and you could get a luxurious, long-staple ZiffNet T-shirt for your pains. -- MH ================================================================ *4 WINDOWS APPLICATIONS AND PRODUCTS (It's been a while since the last WINDOWS FILE, and new products don't stop coming, so here's a first-hand report from last week's PC Expo in New York, and some radically condensed Windows product news from recent issues of PC WEEK -- DD) Section Contents: >1 PC Expo: Once Over Lightly >2 New Windows Software >3 Desktop Publishing, Graphics and CAD Products >4 Database Management Products >5 Developer Tools ------------------ >1 PC Expo in New York last week didn't have a lot of pizzazz. There weren't dazzling new applications, whole new classes of products. What there was was more of the same. It was well done, and there was a lot of it, but it was new versions of familiar titles. There was some interesting hardware, particularly Dell's 320SLi notebook, a 3.6-pound cutie that can come with as much as 10MB of RAM and a 120MB hard drive. Its outboard 3.5-inch floppy drive is the smallest you've ever seen. You'll want one, guaranteed. (If you've already got an older laptop, by the way, make a note of this number: 800-221-0019. It's Alexander Battery Co., an outfit that will sell you a replacement battery for a reasonable price when yours finally craps out.) Of the Windows-related products at PC Expo, some of the best- known and/or most interesting included: AMI PRO 3.0 (Lotus Development) -- New features in Ami Pro 3.0 get their first public showing at PC Expo, including drag-and-drop, better handling of style sheets, better support for Object Linking and Embedding, and multiple SmartIcon palettes. A "clean screen" feature lets users turn off pieces of the interface, and there are WYSIWYG viewers for stylesheets and documents. It's a major upgrade, and it's due to ship late in July at $495 list. DRAWPERFECT (WordPerfect) -- WordPerfect has retooled its drawing package for presentation graphics. The package, available in both DOS and Windows versions, gets the now-standard tools of presentation programs: an outliner, a slide sorter, a gallery of presentation templates, and a selection of graph types. Because if its heritage as a drawing program its draw tools are better than other presentation packages. The company stressed its links to WordPerfect, which may be its primary advantage in the crowded presentation market. ASKSAM (askSam Systems) -- askSam is something of a cult application. It's a database manager that is great for handling large amounts of unstructured text. You don't need to create records and forms and fields, just feed it your phone list and meeting notes and correspondence, and you will be able to find proverbial needles in haystacks. The company demonstrated its first Windows version of the product in New York. It's still very rough -- it's not expected to ship until fall -- but it shows promise. It very intelligently leaves the great strength of askSam alone -- its ability to search datafiles quickly. And it tackles what the DOS version of askSam hasn't done well at all: It's been difficult to use -- hard to get data into, unless you entered it directly into the program, and even harder to get reports out of. Windows helps in both places. AskSam for Windows will be a major step up from the Card File. FAXMASTER (Caere Corp.) -- Caere Corp. announced FaxMaster, a Windows package with will let users send and receive faxes in Windows programs. It will notify users of incoming faxes, and do optical character recognition on fax files to extract editable text. FaxMaster joins Calera's FaxGrabber and Faxability, a product announced but not yet shipped by Intel. FaxMaster is expected to ship about September and list for $249. One neat feature is its ability to compress incoming fax files so they take up less disk space. INTELLIDRAW (Aldus) -- PC Expo provided the first look at Aldus's new IntelliDraw drawing package, and it's . . . well, it's not quite a CAD package, but it's not exactly a drawing package, either. It's got "symmetrigons" and "connectigons" and it may actually be a step forward in drawing packages. IntelliDraw tries to guess what the user will do next. It does intelligent scaling and connecting of objects. Symmetrigons let users draw symmetrical shapes automatically, and connectigons draw polygons. List is $299. WINMASTER (PC-Kwik Corp.) -- PC-Kwik Corp., formerly known as MultiSoft Corp., showed off a new Windows utility package that's part performance go-fasters and part desktop customizers. The go-fasters include a disk defragmenter and data compression utility. The desktop manager includes an icon tool bar for customizing the Windows interface. It will list for $129 and ship in August. SCANMAN COLOR (Logitech) -- Logitech Inc. rolled out a new 24-bit color handheld scanner that comes with the company's excellent FotoTouch Color Image Editing software. The scanner and software combination will capture and display 16.8 million colors or a 256-gray scale. The software includes an auto-stitch feature, which merges multiple scanning passes across a large original. The scanner, due in September, will list for $699. ZYINDEX 5.0 (ZyLAB) -- ZyLAB announced ZyINDEX 5.0, a upgrade of its text-retrieval product that's compatible with Windows 3.1. The new version includes support for DBF files, viewers for graphics files in WordPerfect for Windows and Microsoft Word for Windows documents. List price will be $395, and it's shipping now. SKYLIGHT (RenaSonce Group) -- An unheralded but interesting product, Skylight is a troubleshooting tool that delves deeply into the mysteries of Windows and reports back perhaps more than you wanted to know. This $99.95 utility will do a lot of tricks. It will display your WIN.INI file, then provide context-sensitive help on any item you point to. It displays GDI usage, the user heap, nifty maps of memory and UMB usage, I/O device settings, Windows resource usage displays. It is partly for users, partly for support people, and partly for developers who want to know the _REAL_ trivia of Windows performance. It appears to go further than similar packages. -- DD ------------------ >2 New Windows Software WORDPERFECT FOR WINDOWS (WordPerfect) -- WordPerfect Corp. announced an interim release of WordPerfect for Windows 5.1 that corrects display and printing bugs that plagued the initial version when it was released last November. In addition, problems in the handling of Windows metafile graphics have also been resolved. When importing, users now can save graphics in the Windows metafile format, convert them to the WordPerfect Graphics format, or both. The revamped word processor, which has been optimized for Windows 3.1, also features drag-and-drop editing, zoom edit, full support for TrueType fonts, extended Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) and macro support. The enhanced support for DDE, called DDE Execute, means other DDE-compliant Windows applications can execute WordPerfect commands. The previous version was a DDE client only. The new version also offers extended macro support to simplify use, and support for more calculations in tables. WordPerfect 5.1 for Windows sells through a variety of resellers for $495, but the interim version is available directly through the company for $15. Users who experienced bugs can receive it for free. WordPerfect can be reached at (800) 228-1029. -- From PC Week for June 22, By Paula Rooney SMARTPAK FOR 1-2-3/W (Lotus Development) -- Lotus Development Corp.'s SmartPak, an add-on package for 1-2-3 for Windows 1.1, brings to 1-2-3 some of the more important features found in Microsoft Corp.'s Excel 4.0 for Windows, such as automatic cross- tabulations and formatting as well as an intelligent fill command. And once installed, SmartPak's features are nearly indistinguishable from features built into 1-2-3. The Windows version also now has many of the powerful commands in Lotus' 1-2-3 for the Macintosh, such as those that create dialog boxes and modify menus. Although some of its features are long overdue, SmartPak, released in June, comes at the right price -- it's free. 1-2-3 users can download it from ZiffNet or call Lotus to request a copy. SmartPak also will be bundled with 1-2-3 for Windows for new purchasers. SmartPak requires version 1.1 (a free upgrade released earlier this year) and will not install over version 1.0a. Lotus, of Cambridge, Mass., can be reached at (800) 343-5414. -- From PC Week for June 22, By Eamonn Sullivan (You can download SmartPak from the same place you downloaded THE WINDOWS FILE -- Library 10: Hot News in the PC Week Forum. -- DD) VIVACE (Digital Equipment Corp.) -- Add Digital Equipment Corp. to the list of vendors trying to make the Windows desktop look more like the Macintosh. DEC plans to ship Vivace, a desktop manager, in July for $195. The program, which is similar to Hewlett-Packard Co.'s NewWave in some respects, is based on a cabinet, drawer and file metaphor but features all Windows conventions, such as dialog boxes, pull-down menus and scroll bars. Vivace lets users launch, move, copy and delete Windows and DOS files with the click of a mouse. As in the Macintosh environment, a wastebasket facilitates disposal. Vivace, previously called Concerto, came to DEC in its acquisition of Philips Information Systems Division last October. It is part of an emphasis on Windows that grows out of a deal between DEC and Microsoft, and has also recently produced a Windows word processor called DECwrite. -- From PC Week for June 22, By Paula Rooney WORDSTAR FOR WINDOWS 1.5 (WordStar Intl.) -- Fighting to stay afloat in the increasingly combative Windows word-processing market, WordStar International Inc. has released an upgrade to its Windows product. WordStar for Windows 1.5 is compatible with Windows 3.1 and supports TrueType fonts and Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) as a client. This version, however, does not support drag-and-drop editing. The upgrade features improved performance, enhanced table generation and four new graphics filters: GIF, Lotus Development Corp.'s PIC, Hewlett-Packard Co.'s Plotter and Autodesk Inc.'s AutoCAD SLD, said sources and beta testers. Users can now manually drag frames to resize them instead of having to specify dimensions in dialog boxes. Version 1.5 also offers streamlined installation and an improved on-line, interactive tutorial. The upgrade also comes with Correct Grammar 2.0, a recently released, upgraded grammar- checking program made by WordStar subsidiary Writing Tools Group of Sausalito, Calif. WordStar International can be reached at (415) 382-8000. -- From PC Week for June 15, By Paula Rooney ------------------ >3 Desktop Publishing, Graphics and CAD Products ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR 4.0 (Adobe) -- Adobe Systems Inc.'s Illustrator 4.0 for Windows improves upon its siblings on other platforms by adding features such as editing in preview mode and dynamic zoom. It also comes with other features not found in rival graphics arts programs, such as charting and graphing capabilities and extensive text-editing tools. But this latest release for Windows is not picture-perfect. The $695 Illustrator 4.0 has trouble importing bit-mapped encapsulated PostScript documents, deactivates the undo command in some drawing modes and doesn't accept any but its own PostScript-based graphics formats from the Windows clipboard. Until August 31, Illustrator 4.0 for Windows will be available with Streamline, a utility to convert bit-mapped images to illustrations. Afterward, Streamline will be priced at $195. -- From PC Week for June 22, By Christopher Stetson and Eamonn Sullivan FRAMEMAKER (Frame Technologies, Inc.) -- Frame Technologies Inc. has just made Windows a more viable platform for large-scale desktop publishing with the release of FrameMaker for Windows 3.0. Users of FrameMaker who are accustomed to the popular desktop-publishing program under Unix will immediately feel at home with the Windows version -- and will reap the same functionality. The $795 FrameMaker, released three weeks ago, excels at creating long, complex documents, with features that make the toughest publishing jobs -- such as maintaining multiple versions of a document -- easier. FrameMaker would be a good choice for users with complex publishing needs, such as creating technical documentation or long corporate reports. For those who need cross-platform capability, FrameMaker provides file compatibility across Unix workstations and the Macintosh, as well as Windows. FrameMaker leaves its competition far behind in its ability to maintain and format cross-references among multiple, rapidly changing documents and to create on-line documentation with hypertext links. In contrast to Ventura Publisher and PageMaker, FrameMaker lets users work on multiple documents at once. However, FrameMaker was not as easy to use as PageMaker when initially designing pages in a document because changes in column layout, graphics and special effects were not as simple to undo. Frame Technologies, of San Jose, Calif., can be reached at (408) 433-3311. -- From PC Week for June 15, By Quabidur R. Safi and Eamonn Sullivan FACELIFT 2.0 (Bitstream) -- FaceLift 2.0 adds greater flexibility and customization features than Windows 3.1's built-in TrueType scalable font technology. The $99 font utility renders typefaces and lets users organize and customize typefaces in both BitStream's own Speedo format and in Adobe Systems Inc.'s PostScript Type 1 format. Although the upgrade was noticeably faster than earlier versions, ATM version 2.02 remained the speed champ in PC Week Labs screen rasterization tests. FaceLift and TrueType turned in similar performances in printing, both often faster than ATM, especially to Hewlett-Packard Co.'s LaserJet printers. In printing tests, FaceLift was usually faster than ATM. FaceLift successfully displayed and printed Type 1 fonts in testing, although (not surprisingly) it did not render them as well as ATM. In PC Week Labs tests, Type 1 fonts rendered by FaceLift often appeared more jagged than with ATM. When using very complex test documents, PC Week Labs found that FaceLift occasionally failed to render Type 1 fonts at all. One of FaceLift's best new features lets users group related typefaces together, making it easy to manage very large font collections. Another good feature is FaceLift's ability to create custom typefaces. Bitstream, of Cambridge, Mass., is at (800) 522-3668. -- From PC Week for June 22, By Eamonn Sullivan TRUETYPE FONT PACKS FROM BITSTREAM, MICROSOFT -- Utilizing the built-in TrueType rasterizer found in Windows 3.1, Bitstream Inc.'s $79 TrueType Font Pack and Microsoft Corp.'s $99 TrueType Font Pack for Windows extend the GUI's system fonts with a good compendium of typefaces for text and headlines. Compared with the typefaces supplied with Bitstream's font pack, Microsoft's 44 typefaces will be more familiar to users -- 22 of them, in combination with the built-in Windows typefaces, embrace the 35 typefaces standard in most PostScript printers. Bitstream's 40 typefaces offer greater variety but are not as well-known. Both were shipped in May. In addition to the 35 common PostScript typefaces, Microsoft's Font Pack includes Lucida fonts in serif, sans serif, monospaced and blackletter varieties. The typefaces were designed by Bigelow and Holmes Inc. and Monotype Typography Inc., both well-known type houses. The faces are well-made and match the PostScript equivalents well, and Microsoft's manual thankfully provides a table that lists the TrueType fonts and their PostScript equivalents. PC Week Labs found Bitstream's offering to be more robust in its range of unusual typefaces, with unique fonts such as Staccato and Informal Black, as well as subtle European families such as Humanist. Bitstream of Cambridge, Mass., can be reached at (800) 522-3668; Microsoft, of Redmond, Wash., is at (206) 882-8080. -- From PC Week for June 22, By Christopher Stetson and Eamonn Sullivan POWERPOINT 3.0 (Microsoft) -- PowerPoint 3.0 typifies what is becoming a hallmark of Microsoft Corp.'s products: a blending of advanced technology into an easy-to-use package. Although there is nothing truly innovative in PowerPoint -- most of the new features have been in competitors' products for months -- the $495 package combines every expected presentation-graphics feature with an implementation that doesn't trip up users. Despite a few bugs and limitations, the newest incarnation should be pleasing to the growing legions of PowerPoint users. Version 3.0 is due to be shipped early in July. The most useful improvements in version 3.0 are an outliner that works just like the one found in Microsoft Word, and the shape tool, which let PC Week Labs add common shapes to a presentation almost instantly. In addition, templates -- which control color schemes, layout and text attributes -- can now be added globally to a presentation at any time. Like competitors such as Lotus Development Corp.'s Freelance for Windows and Aldus Corp.'s Aldus Persuasion 2.1, PowerPoint supports a fill-in-the-blanks procedure for creating presentations. PowerPoint beats these rivals in its ease of use. Microsoft, of Redmond, Wash., can be reached at (800) 426-9400. -- From PC Week for June 22, By Eamonn Sullivan MANNEQUIN DESIGNER 1.0 (Humancad) -- For Windows users who need to incorporate lifelike human figures into presentations and illustrations, there's nothing better -- despite some problems -- than Humancad's one-of-a-kind Mannequin Designer 1.0 for Windows. Mannequin Designer is a three- dimensional drawing program that specializes in drawing anatomically accurate human forms. Although the $99 program is generally stable, PC Week Labs tests easily flushed out first- release problems. Mannequin Designer, which was released last month, also places heavy demands on a computer's resources. Even on a Dell Computer Corp. System 450DE, a 50MHz 486-based system, operations were sometimes painfully slow. The software also lacks some important features of its DOS predecessor, Mannequin, such as the ability to export three-dimensional DXF files. The Windows version of Mannequin also isn't as sophisticated as its DOS counterpart, which offers more control over the measurements of the individual human forms used in a drawing and features such as the ability to measure the stress on various human joints. What made the software really valuable for illustrations was its ability to reposition the human forms -- right down to the positions of the individual fingers. Humancad, of Melville, N.Y., can be reached at (516) 752-3568. -- From PC Week for June 8, By Eamonn Sullivan AUTOCAD/W EDITION (Autodesk) -- Autodesk Inc. plans to give Windows CAD users a taste of 32-bit performance under Windows 3.1 with a stand-alone version of its AutoCAD Release 12 for Windows using Watcom's 32-bit extender. This will give Windows users 32-bit performance without having to wait for Microsoft Corp.'s Windows NT. Release 12 for Windows offers all the features of its DOS counterpart, including AutoCAD Render, which lets users do three-dimensional rendering; customizable menus; and PostScript support. The Windows package is due in January. Versions of Release 12 for DOS and Sun Microsystems Inc. SPARCstations are due out in July. All three versions will be priced at $3,750. -- From PC Week for June 8, By Erica Schroeder ------------------ >4 Database Management Products DECREPORT FOR WINDOWS (Digital Equipment Corp.) -- Digital Equipment Corp.'s DECreport for Windows 1.0 eases the task of transforming database information into reports. The $295 DECreport, which was released in quantity in May, provides report writing for Microsoft Corp.'s Excel and for dBASE files directly. When paired with DEC's DECquery querying tool, DECreport can be used with a wide variety of VMS databases and DB2. DECreport's search operators are combined with powerful calculation capabilities to make complex report creation less daunting. Reports can be presented in columnar format, produced on labels or created as forms. Labels were easily created by using DECreport's built-in labels, which make the process almost a pleasure. PC Week Labs found the columnar output report to be very straightforward. DECreport's tools for designing the layout and manipulating graphics and text objects need improvement, however. PC Week Labs was unable to put text on a page without referring to the documentation. In addition, when attempting to start the program without setting a default printer in Windows, DECreport crashed. DEC officials said they are aware of the problem. DEC, of Maynard, Mass., can be reached at (800) 344- 4825. -- From PC Week for June 8, By Quabidur R. Safi XDB-SQL/WINDOWS (XDB Systems) -- New programming tools from XDB Systems Inc. allow developers to build Windows applications that access both the XDB relational-database engine and IBM's DB2 mainframe database. XDB-SQL/Windows version 2.41 combines the company's Structured Query Language (SQL) database server with C language and Visual Basic programming tools for Windows. The package, released in May, can be used to create multitasking applications to support multiple concurrent Windows sessions. It includes the XDB Dynamic Link Library SQL Engine for Windows, a C function-call library, a Visual Basic interface, a Dynamic Data Exchange interface and a LAN redirector. XDB-SQL/Windows is priced at $995. XDB-Link prices range from $20,000 to $35,000, depending on the hardware platform. The company can be reached at (301) 317-6800. -- From PC Week for June 8, By Karen D. Moser PERSONAL ACCESS (Spinnaker Software Corp.) -- Spinnaker has released a new version of its Windows database access and development tool that supports two additional database-management systems. Personal Access version 1.5 now supports Oracle Corp.'s Oracle Server and Borland International Inc.'s Paradox database. Like the previous version, it supports SQL Server versions from Microsoft Corp. and Sybase Inc., as well as Borland's dBASE and Novell Inc.'s Btrieve. Version 1.5 sports an enhanced user interface, quicker database access, a simpler and faster query-entry system and an on-line tutorial. Earlier this year, Spinnaker and Micro Decisionware Inc. announced that they would jointly develop a link between Personal Access and Micro Decisionware's Database Gateway for IBM's DB2 mainframe database. That version of Personal Access will be released later this year, officials said. Personal Access incorporates Spinnaker Plus, the company's object- oriented cross-platform development tool, and is priced at $695. Current Plus users can upgrade to Personal Access for $199. An introductory offer through Egghead Discount Software's Corporate and Government Sales organizations will provide four copies of Personal Access for the regular list price of one copy, $695. The company can be reached at (617) 494- 1200. -- From PC Week for June 15, By Karen D. Moser ------------------ >5 Developer Tools WINDOWS NT SDK (Microsoft) -- Microsoft Corp. is set to roll out the first full-featured version of Windows NT at the Win32 Professional Developers Conference in July, but has told developers a finished product may not be shipped until 1993. The Windows NT Pre-release Software Development Kit (PSDK) will contain the first complete version of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system, including the ability to run DOS and Windows 3.x applications on computers based on Intel Corp. or MIPS Computer Systems Inc. chips, Microsoft officials said. The kit also will include versions of Microsoft's new C/C++ 7.0 compiler for Intel and MIPS 32-bit chips, the Microsoft Foundation Class libraries and a wide range of other tools for writing Windows NT applications. Windows NT will also run POSIX and character-based OS/2 applications. A second release of the PSDK, planned for August, will contain the Win32s library, sources said. Microsoft set an aggressive price for the PSDK to spark NT development. Unlike the $2,600 or more that it and IBM charged for the OS/2 SDKs, the Windows PSDK will be priced below $200, according to one source. -- From PC Week for June 8, By Paul M. Sherer TURBO PASCAL FOR WINDOWS (Borland Intl.) -- Windows 3.1 programmers need no longer suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous C++ syntax to write object-oriented Windows programs. Borland International Inc.'s Turbo Pascal for Windows version 1.5 development package makes all of Windows 3.1's sophisticated features available in the mature and highly readable syntax of Turbo Pascal, while also adding some minor enhancements to version 1.0. The product's only major shortcoming is that it does not come with all of the features found in Borland's C++ tools; PC Week Labs was disappointed to find that the package lacks a full Windows development toolkit. But Turbo Pascal for Windows' low price and the availability of third-party alternatives to many of the missing parts make up for this omission. Turbo Pascal for Windows 1.5, released last week, lists for $149.95. Users of version 1.0 can upgrade for $49.95, while registered users of any DOS version can buy it for $99.95. Version 1.5 brings Turbo Pascal up to Windows 3.1 compatibility by including capabilities such as Object Linking and Embedding (OLE), TrueType fonts, and the new simplified APIs (application programming interfaces) for common dialog boxes and Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE). Borland, of Scotts Valley, Calif., can be reached at (800) 331-0877. -- From PC Week for June 22, By Larry J. Seltzer DEMYSTIFIERS (MicroQuill Inc.) -- MicroQuill's new DeMystifiers tools give programmers and technical non-programmers better control of Windows. DeMystifiers, a set of five Windows analysis utilities released in limited quantity in May for $129, gives users a comprehensive view of their environment. Serious Windows programmers will not want to be without the product, and non-programmers will benefit from the data the tools provide about Windows and Windows device drivers. Some of the basic functions of the DeMystifiers tools, which take advantage of many of the new features in Windows 3.1, are comparable to functions of the tools found in Borland International Inc.'s C++ 3.0 and Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Software Development Kit (SDK). However, PC Week Labs found that DeMystifiers offers better implementations of these functions as well as considerable additional features. For example, DeMystifiers' Voyeur is analogous to Spy in the Windows SDK and Winsight in Borland C++. Mechanic, DeMystifiers' Windows device analyzer, offers useful details about device drivers and the features they support. DeMystifiers' Colonel, similar to Microsoft's HeapWalker tool, allows viewing of the structure of the main Windows memory list, known as the heap. The Ecologist tool comprises three windows that describe the general Windows environment. The BlowUp tool is used for enlarging areas of the Windows display and viewing them in a window. MicroQuill, of Seattle, can be reached at (800) 441-7822. -- From PC Week for June 8, By Larry J. Seltzer ================================================================