dacs.doc electric

Random Access

Instant Replay: February 1999

Bruce Preston, Moderator

DACS members who are unable to attend the Random Access at the monthly General Meeting are invited to e-mail questions to me at askdacs@aol.com. Your questions will be presented at the session.

Q. Ask Dacs: I have a P233/MMX with 64MB EDO, a 1GB HD, ATI All-in-Wonder PCI 8MB videoboard, 15" display, Windows 98, and Adobe Premier 4.2. All of the video capture/playback software included with the ATI card works. In Premier I can capture and save a video image to disk, but when I play the captured clip back I only get sound--the video is all black. I have checked the ATI Web site and followed their suggestions for how to deal with this problem, but it still doesn't work. Any suggestions?

A. Only one member of the audience had experience with the combination that you are using. The Premier software acts as a controlling application that asks the software that comes with the videoboard to display the video. It is probably a problem within the ATI software, or somehow the message to display the video isn't getting through. Your best bet is to continue with both Adobe and ATI in trying to find a resolution. Both products have enough of a following to provide you with a solution.

Q. I have installed a wireless network in my house. There are several Windows 98 machines and a Windows 95 notebook. The wireless network lets me move the notebook around the house and deck and still work. Everything worked fine until I tried to install a remote printer on the notebook, but now I can't do anything in the printer folder or in printer Properties without crashing. I cannot even delete a printer. Any suggestions?

A. Looks like the registry got hammered, or perhaps the printers applet in the control panel. In either case, you will probably have to reinstall Windows 95. If you are adventurous, you could try using RegEdit to delete portions of the registry that deal with the printers and see if that cures the problem. At worst case, you would still have to reinstall Windows 95. Before you use RegEdit, however, you may want to go to your Windows 95 CD and copy the two CFGBACK files to your C:\WINDOWS directory and then run CFGBACK. This is a utility that will make a copy of your registry files so that if you make an error using RegEdit (or install an application that causes a problem with the registry) you can restore the registry to its prior condition.

Q. I have Office 97. When I start Word 97, I get a message saying, "Microsoft Visual Basic Runtime Error 51--Word can not open this document." If I press OK, I can then continue. How do I get rid of this?

A. Further questioning found that the message seemed to be pointing at a dictionary file. It was suggested that you go to the Office SETUP utility and "remove" the dictionary option by going to "Remove/Reinstall Components." Then restart the machine, return to the Office SETUP utility, and reinstall the dictionary. It appears that the dictionary file got damaged.

Q. I have IBM Via Voice. When I start it, I get an MMSYS 296 error: "File cannot be played on this device. File may be corrupt, or incorrect format." I sent a message to IBM, who said "Get in touch with Microsoft; they are aware of the problem." I have sent messages to Microsoft, but they haven't gotten back to me. What next?

A. Go to the Microsoft Website, Support section, and do a search, perhaps using the keywords "Via Voice," "Codec," or "Sound Blaster." One of the members suggested that you may have an out-of-date Codec compression/decompression driver). If this is the case, you should look for newer drivers for your sound card. Also consider downloading the Windows Media Player, since there are newer revisions of it available. You might also need the latest version of DirectX as well.

Q. If I select the "Save to File" option when I print, how do I then print the file at a later time?

A. This is a curious problem, since there is no "nice, clean" answer for what appears to be a very
simple, basic question. If you double-click on the file or drag it, what usually happens is that Windows expects to start an application that will then convert it to printer instructions. The problem is that you get a printout of a file of printer instructions rather than the actual printout you have already generated.

One way that usually works is to open a DOS command window and use the COPY command. Assuming that the file is named "Printed to File.PRN," and that your printer is on port LPT1, you would type: COPY Printed to File.PRN" LPT1: The quotes are needed if the filename is anything other than a "DOS legal" 8.3 filename, i.e. more than eight characters to the filename, or containing spaces, punctuation, etc. You may find it necessary to add the "/B" to the command, which says "Treat the file as binary data."

One more note: If you select Print to File, remember that the data that is written to the file is printer-specific. So if at print time you tell Windows that your printer is, say, an Epson color printer, but when you copy the file to the LPT port and there is, say, an HP LaserJet printer attached, you will get very odd results.

Q. Here is a strange problem. I was in Windows Explorer "Detail Mode," which gives the tabular list of files with names, sizes, type of file, and date modified. I went to "List Mode." which just displays the names of the files. When I returned to "Detail Mode" none of my files were visible. After a short panic, I returned to "List Mode" and they were visible again.

A. It turns out that a "Ctrl-minus" keystroke will make the column widths 0, thus making the list invisible. A "Ctrl-plus" keystroke will make the column width take their default values, which you can then adjust to what you want. One user reported that using "Quick-Res" had caused this problem. Moderator's Note: I tried this in Windows 98, and couldn't reproduce the problem.

Q. I am running Windows 3.11. When I get a binary file attachment in CompuServe, I can't get at it.

A. The old CompuServe mail system couldn't handle binary files that came from a non-CompuServe source. You need the newer mail system, which is Internet compliant and understands the formats used by Internet systems. There are also some standalone utility programs such as DiskJockey, WinZIP, etc., which also understand the various formats used for transmitting files across the Internet.

Q. I run the "Microsoft System Information Report." It used to run about 12 pages, but I am now getting a file that is way to big to put on a diskette. What happened?

A. You are probably also getting a listing of the registry, which for a system with a lot of applications and devices can become huge. You may want to save it to the hard disk and then edit out the registry entries. Another possibility since you said "print to file" is that it is saving the "graphics" instructions for printing the report. Define a new printer, select "Generic" from the list of manufacturers, then "generic/text only" from the list of devices. If you then use this printer when you then "print to file" it will save just the ASCII printable text without all of the fonts and formatting etc.

Q. Could someone discuss the differences between the Celeron and the Pentium II?

A. The Celeron was Intel's response to the other CPU chip manufacturers who were producing lower-priced processors. Intel disabled the cache in the Pentium II processor, producing a processor at a much lower cost. It also produced a processor that runs measurably slower. In response to consumer complaints, the Celeron A350 chip was introduced, which has a 128K cache. This improved the performance. Cache is a large memory buffer within the chip itself that lets the CPU read areas of recently accessed memory without having to go out to the relatively slower RAM.

Q. Has anyone "overclocked" a Celeron?

A. One member reported running Celeron A350s at 450MHz without problems.

Q. I am trying to compress data on an old hard drive. I was told that I need "Microsoft Plus" to do this. I can't find it.

A. This was an add-on product for Windows 95 that included a higher performance disk- compression utility (DriveSpace3) library, as well as more "desktop themes," sounds, graphics, etc. However, we do not recommend its use anymore, since the justification for it, costly media, no longer exists. You can get multigigabyte hard drives for less than $200 at your local dealers and even at the large office supply stores. It is much more reliable to use a larger hard disk than to compress a drive. About the only justification for using disk compression software would be to get a little more usage out of an old notebook computer when you can't get a newer drive.

Q. But can I use a multigigabyte hard drive in Windows 95?

A. Yes, Windows 95 can use it. You will just have to have the drive "partitioned" into maximum of 2GB per logical hard drive. So if you have an 8GB hard drive, it would be seen as C:, D:, E:, and F:, each about 2GB. On an older machine, the BIOS won't recognize the drive, in which case you'll have to install BIOS overlay software. This software, which usually comes with the drive (such as "Max-Blast" which comes with Maxtor drives), will modify the BIOS at boot time so that the BIOS will see the full drive.

Q. Will the BIOS in my old Gateway machine recognize the drive?

A. It depends upon the age of the machine. If it is too old to recognize the larger drives, there is a good chance that it won't recognize Jan 1, 2000 either. There are several ways to handle it: If the BIOS is an EPROM (electronically programmable) then you may be able to get a BIOS software revision from the vendor. If the BIOS is on a chip in a socket, then there are replacement chips available (it takes about ten minutes to replace the chip).

If the BIOS is not in a socket, then there is an ISA adapter board that can provide the BIOS modifications. Since there comes a point of diminishing returns. much depends upon how much you are willing to put into the machine.

For those of you who may want to keep your old machine going, you might try Unicore Software at www.unicore.com or 1-800-800-BIOS. Their BIOS replacements can support up to eight hard drives of 137GB each, are Y2K compliant, support PnP Windows 98 and faster CPUs, and eliminate overlay problems, especially for other operating systems such as UNIX and LINUX. Replacing a socketed BIOS is roughly comparable in difficulty to replacing memory: You just need to use a provided tool to lift the old chip out of the socket. The cost for a BIOS chip is about $70, plus your installation cost if you have someone do it for you.

Random Access

Instant Replay: February 1999

*Bruce Preston, Moderator*
DACS members who are unable to attend the Random Access at the monthly General Meeting are invited to e-mail questions to me at askdacs@aol.com. Your questions will be presented at the session. Q. Ask Dacs: I have a P233/MMX with 64MB EDO, a 1GB HD, ATI All-in-Wonder PCI 8MB videoboard, 15" display, Windows 98, and Adobe Premier 4.2. All of the video capture/playback software included with the ATI card works. In Premier I can capture and save a video image to disk, but when I play the captured clip back I only get sound--the video is all black. I have checked the ATI Web site and followed their suggestions for how to deal with this problem, but it still doesn't work. Any suggestions? A. Only one member of the audience had experience with the combination that you are using. The Premier software acts as a controlling application that asks the software that comes with the videoboard to display the video. It is probably a problem within the ATI software, or somehow the message to display the video isn't getting through. Your best bet is to continue with both Adobe and ATI in trying to find a resolution. Both products have enough of a following to provide you with a solution. Q. I have installed a wireless network in my house. There are several Windows 98 machines and a Windows 95 notebook. The wireless network lets me move the notebook around the house and deck and still work. Everything worked fine until I tried to install a remote printer on the notebook, but now I can't do anything in the printer folder or in printer Properties without crashing. I cannot even delete a printer. Any suggestions? A. Looks like the registry got hammered, or perhaps the printers applet in the control panel. In either case, you will probably have to reinstall Windows 95. If you are adventurous, you could try using RegEdit to delete portions of the registry that deal with the printers and see if that cures the problem. At worst case, you would still have to reinstall Windows 95. Before you use RegEdit, however, you may want to go to your Windows 95 CD and copy the two CFGBACK files to your C:\WINDOWS directory and then run CFGBACK. This is a utility that will make a copy of your registry files so that if you make an error using RegEdit (or install an application that causes a problem with the registry) you can restore the registry to its prior condition. Q. I have Office 97. When I start Word 97, I get a message saying, "Microsoft Visual Basic Runtime Error 51--Word can not open this document." If I press OK, I can then continue. How do I get rid of this? A. Further questioning found that the message seemed to be pointing at a dictionary file. It was suggested that you go to the Office SETUP utility and "remove" the dictionary option by going to "Remove/Reinstall Components." Then restart the machine, return to the Office SETUP utility, and reinstall the dictionary. It appears that the dictionary file got damaged. Q. I have IBM Via Voice. When I start it, I get an MMSYS 296 error: "File cannot be played on this device. File may be corrupt, or incorrect format." I sent a message to IBM, who said "Get in touch with Microsoft; they are aware of the problem." I have sent messages to Microsoft, but they haven't gotten back to me. What next? A. Go to the Microsoft Website, Support section, and do a search, perhaps using the keywords "Via Voice," "Codec," or "Sound Blaster." One of the members suggested that you may have an out-of-date Codec compression/decompression driver). If this is the case, you should look for newer drivers for your sound card. Also consider downloading the Windows Media Player, since there are newer revisions of it available. You might also need the latest version of DirectX as well. Q. If I select the "Save to File" option when I print, how do I then print the file at a later time? A. This is a curious problem, since there is no "nice, clean" answer for what appears to be a very simple, basic question. If you double-click on the file or drag it, what usually happens is that Windows expects to start an application that will then convert it to printer instructions. The problem is that you get a printout of a file of printer instructions rather than the actual printout you have already generated. One way that usually works is to open a DOS command window and use the COPY command. Assuming that the file is named "Printed to File.PRN," and that your printer is on port LPT1, you would type: COPY Printed to File.PRN" LPT1: The quotes are needed if the filename is anything other than a "DOS legal" 8.3 filename, i.e. more than eight characters to the filename, or containing spaces, punctuation, etc. You may find it necessary to add the "/B" to the command, which says "Treat the file as binary data." One more note: If you select Print to File, remember that the data that is written to the file is printer-specific. So if at print time you tell Windows that your printer is, say, an Epson color printer, but when you copy the file to the LPT port and there is, say, an HP LaserJet printer attached, you will get very odd results. Q. Here is a strange problem. I was in Windows Explorer "Detail Mode," which gives the tabular list of files with names, sizes, type of file, and date modified. I went to "List Mode." which just displays the names of the files. When I returned to "Detail Mode" none of my files were visible. After a short panic, I returned to "List Mode" and they were visible again. A. It turns out that a "Ctrl-minus" keystroke will make the column widths 0, thus making the list invisible. A "Ctrl-plus" keystroke will make the column width take their default values, which you can then adjust to what you want. One user reported that using "Quick-Res" had caused this problem. Moderator's Note: I tried this in Windows 98, and couldn't reproduce the problem. Q. I am running Windows 3.11. When I get a binary file attachment in CompuServe, I can't get at it. A. The old CompuServe mail system couldn't handle binary files that came from a non-CompuServe source. You need the newer mail system, which is Internet compliant and understands the formats used by Internet systems. There are also some standalone utility programs such as DiskJockey, WinZIP, etc., which also understand the various formats used for transmitting files across the Internet. Q. I run the "Microsoft System Information Report." It used to run about 12 pages, but I am now getting a file that is way to big to put on a diskette. What happened? A. You are probably also getting a listing of the registry, which for a system with a lot of applications and devices can become huge. You may want to save it to the hard disk and then edit out the registry entries. Another possibility since you said "print to file" is that it is saving the "graphics" instructions for printing the report. Define a new printer, select "Generic" from the list of manufacturers, then "generic/text only" from the list of devices. If you then use this printer when you then "print to file" it will save just the ASCII printable text without all of the fonts and formatting etc. Q. Could someone discuss the differences between the Celeron and the Pentium II? A. The Celeron was Intel's response to the other CPU chip manufacturers who were producing lower-priced processors. Intel disabled the cache in the Pentium II processor, producing a processor at a much lower cost. It also produced a processor that runs measurably slower. In response to consumer complaints, the Celeron A350 chip was introduced, which has a 128K cache. This improved the performance. Cache is a large memory buffer within the chip itself that lets the CPU read areas of recently accessed memory without having to go out to the relatively slower RAM. Q. Has anyone "overclocked" a Celeron? A. One member reported running Celeron A350s at 450MHz without problems. Q. I am trying to compress data on an old hard drive. I was told that I need "Microsoft Plus" to do this. I can't find it. A. This was an add-on product for Windows 95 that included a higher performance disk- compression utility (DriveSpace3) library, as well as more "desktop themes," sounds, graphics, etc. However, we do not recommend its use anymore, since the justification for it, costly media, no longer exists. You can get multigigabyte hard drives for less than $200 at your local dealers and even at the large office supply stores. It is much more reliable to use a larger hard disk than to compress a drive. About the only justification for using disk compression software would be to get a little more usage out of an old notebook computer when you can't get a newer drive. Q. But can I use a multigigabyte hard drive in Windows 95? A. Yes, Windows 95 can use it. You will just have to have the drive "partitioned" into maximum of 2GB per logical hard drive. So if you have an 8GB hard drive, it would be seen as C:, D:, E:, and F:, each about 2GB. On an older machine, the BIOS won't recognize the drive, in which case you'll have to install BIOS overlay software. This software, which usually comes with the drive (such as "Max-Blast" which comes with Maxtor drives), will modify the BIOS at boot time so that the BIOS will see the full drive. Q. Will the BIOS in my old Gateway machine recognize the drive? A. It depends upon the age of the machine. If it is too old to recognize the larger drives, there is a good chance that it won't recognize Jan 1, 2000 either. There are several ways to handle it: If the BIOS is an EPROM (electronically programmable) then you may be able to get a BIOS software revision from the vendor. If the BIOS is on a chip in a socket, then there are replacement chips available (it takes about ten minutes to replace the chip). If the BIOS is not in a socket, then there is an ISA adapter board that can provide the BIOS modifications. Since there comes a point of diminishing returns. much depends upon how much you are willing to put into the machine. For those of you who may want to keep your old machine going, you might try Unicore Software at www.unicore.com or 1-800-800-BIOS. Their BIOS replacements can support up to eight hard drives of 137GB each, are Y2K compliant, support PnP Windows 98 and faster CPUs, and eliminate overlay problems, especially for other operating systems such as UNIX and LINUX. Replacing a socketed BIOS is roughly comparable in difficulty to replacing memory: You just need to use a provided tool to lift the old chip out of the socket. The cost for a BIOS chip is about $70, plus your installation cost if you have someone do it for you.

Bruce Preston is the president of West Mountain Systems, a consultancy in Ridgefield, CT, specializing in database applications. A DACS director and moderator of the Random Access sessions at the general meetings, Bruce also leads the Access SIG. Contact him at askdacs@aol.com.