QUICK TIPS AND FIXES Copyright (c) 1994, Joe DeRouen All rights reserved [Originally published in Computer Currents Magazine] If you're having a problem you just can't seem to solve, a question you want answered, or just an inherent need to bend a lonely writer's ear, you've come to the right place. Keep those cards and letters coming, folks. Also, please include a daytime and a nighttime phone number with your question. I might have to ask you a couple of questions to get at the source of the problem or question. And, I promise, I won't write your numbers on the walls of bathroom stalls at the Infomart. Q: Hi Joe. I hope you can help me out. I'm new to computers and BBSing and there's just one thing I can't figure out. I've downloaded some files from a BBS, but I can't figure out how to run them. If you could point me in the right direction, I would be very grateful! Thanks, Eddie Stricklen Crowley, Texas A: Well, Eddie, answering your question is going to take a few assumptions on my part. Firstly, I'm going to assume that you're using an IBM compatible computer, and secondly I'm going to assume you're downloading files intended for use with that same computer. If I've assumed wrong, please, don't hesitate to call and yell at me repeatedly. At any rate, more than likely the programs you're trying to run are either non-executables (they have extensions than end in .DOC, .TXT, .GIF, .BMP, or anything other than .EXE, .COM, or .BAT.) or compressed files. Compressed files are anything that ends in .ZIP, .ARJ, .ZOO, .ARC, or a number of other compression extensions. Compressed files won't run, either. More than likely, if you find a file that ends in .ZIP, it contains several other files. When "unzipped", the file will write several files, usually containing an executable, to your hard drive. Your program will then be ready to run. But how do you get to that point? You need to have Pkware's compression program, PKZIP. Most everything on a BBS is ZIPped. If it isn't ZIPped, it's more than likely ARJed. There's other possibilities for compression, of course, but these two are the most likely. You need to scour your favorite BBS for the programs PKZ204g.EXE and ARJ241A.EXE. If you can't find them, call my BBS (number at the end of this column) and download them there. Once you have the programs (again, I'm going to assume you don't have Windows or a shell for the sake of covering all the bases) create a directory called PKWARE and one called ARJ. Go to the directory where the two newly-downloaded files are and type (without quotations) "PKZ204G \pkware". Then type "ARJ241A \arj". After that, you'll need to add the two new directories to the PATH line in your AUTOEXEC.BAT. It might look something like this: PATH C:\DOS;C:\WINDOWS;C:\PKWARE;C:\ARJ You'll have to reboot your system in order for the changes made to the AUTOEXEC.BAT to take effect. Alternately, if you don't have more hard drive space or just don't want to take the time to do the above, you can copy all of the executables (.EXE's and .COM's) from the PKZIP and ARJ files into your DOS directory. Your system should already be pathed to DOS, and thus your computer will be able to find those programs when needed. Then (finally) you can decompress the programs. The formulae for doing this would be PKUNZIP . For example: PKUNZIP SUN9412.ZIP C:\SUNLIGHT ARJ works similarly. An example to get you started decompressing ARJ-compressed programs: ARJ E SUN9412.ZIP C:\SUNLIGHT Be sure to read the documentation and help that comes with both of these programs! You'll be glad you did. Ah, but what is the file you're trying to run isn't compressed? What if it's a GIF or text file? Well, then, you're out of luck. Sorry, just kidding. If it's a text file, you can read it via DOS's TYPE command (syntax: TYPE or with an ASCII viewer/editor. (EDIT comes with DOS. If you have nothing else, use this. Syntax: EDIT .) If your file ends in .GIF, .BMP, or .TIF, you probably need a graphic viewer. Scan your favorite BBS and, armed with the aforementioned knowledge about ZIP and how to UNZIP files, download a graphics viewer, decompress it, read the docs, and start viewing pictures. Personally, I've always preferred VPIC. But there are a host of viewers out there, so just look around. Q: Hi Joe. I read your column in Computer Currents regularly and have picked up quite a few tips/tricks. I am (or thought I was) pretty fluent in computers and hardware until I built my home system. A 486/33DX ISA, 16mb ram, 2 ide HD's, multimedia, etc. All was well until I decided to upgrade to a 486DX2/66 VLB. When I replaced the mother board, I opted for a VLB multi-IO card and Trident VLB 2 meg Video card. Everything was as expected until I tried to use the tape drive (Conner Backup EXEC software). I'm using the floppy controller for the internal tape backup unit. Now, even after going through the installation for the tape software again, I get DMA/Video conflict errors with the tape software. There are no DMA jumpers for the floppy controller on the VLB multi-IO board, and there are no DMA jumpers on the Trident VLB video board. The only way I've been able to make the software work successfully is to change the tape software configuration to "Most Compatible DMA" setting which yields a through put of approx. 800k bytes per minute. Three something hours just to backup a drive plue three more to verify just isn't what I want. I've tried removing the extra cards, sound blaster, color scanner card, just leaving the Video and IDE board. Still the same error. Does this mean that I'm going to have to remove the VLB video board and go back to my Diamond SpeedStar 64 ISA? Any suggestion will be welcome, I really hate to keep working without backups. I've got almost 900 megs of software loaded on the machine. Thanks, Charlie Woods Via Internet A: Since neither the drive controller card or the video card have DMA jumpers on them, I suggest you try tinkering with the interrupts and DMA settings on your sound card. No matter which sound card you have, make sure that IRQ-2 is disabled. If this doesn't get your tape drive running, if you have a SoundBlaster Pro card, run TESTSBPRO in your Sound Blaster directory. This will tell you if it's getting any interruptions from the tape drive controller. If the test comes back showing interruptions, change your DMA setting. It will be set to either DMA-1 or DMA-3. When you change your DMA settings, make sure to change your AUTOEXEC.BAT file, specifically, the line which reads "SET SB = D1" to read "SET SB = D3". After changing your DMA settings, try the hardware again. If you still are having problems, REM out all SoundBlaster commands from your AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files, and remove your sound card. Try the tape backup, and see if it works now. If you have a Pro-Audio Spectrum sound card, it will automatically use both DMA-1 and DMA-3. Try removing the sound card, REMming out all command lines from the AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files, and see if the tape drive works. If it does, you might need to try another brand of sound card that will only use one DMA address (such as the Sound Blaster). I hope this helps. If not, let me know and I'll try to recommend some further steps. Are you having a problem with your computer? Write to Joe at Computer Currents or via Sunlight Through The Shadows BBS at 214/620-8793. (c) 1994 Joe DeRouen. All rights reserved.