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Text File | 1995-04-26 | 10.6 KB | 184 lines

******************************************************************************* * STatus Disk Magazine * * Issue 1, Volume 1 * * * * NOTE: This issue is to be copied freely by Atari ST users. We at STatus * * strictly prohibit anyone selling this issue as part of a Shareware or PD * * collection. * * * * STatus Disk Magazine * * Suite 299 * * 4431 Lehigh Road * * College Park, MD 20740 * * * * STatus Disk Magazine (c) 1989, is a COMMERCIAL effort. * ******************************************************************************* PD programs for the Home Use By Paul Cartwright For those of us on tight budgets , and for those of YOU who just can't find a commercial program to do what you want , there are many Public domain, and SHAREWARE programs out there. I am going to list a few , some I use every- day , some I use when the need arises , some I have replaced with better commercial programs , and some that I don't use , but might be useful to YOU !! Here we go. Vanterm , must be listed first , as it is the one I use more than any other program on my ST. Vanterm is a communications program , with the GEM interface , that has enough bells and whistles to keep me happy for a long time.Not only does it have the usual file transfer protocols , but it also has a capture buffer , file manipulation capabilities , and an auto dial directory . You can configure Vanterm to your own needs , buffer sizes , directories for uploads/downloads , dialer files , and screen colors. My only other attempt at communicating with other BBSes has been Flash , which is a nice powerful program , with an editable capture buffer , but for my use , Vanterm is easier to use , does everything I need , and ,of course the writer , William Van Nest Jr. , is the sysop of his own BBS, locally , to answer any questions about the program. Ramdisks/Print Spoolers I guess would be one of the most popular PD programs. I think everyone has their own favorite there. SI-RAM is the one I use , although with my hard disk , I rarely run a ram disk anymore. The nice part about Si-ram is that you can boot your ST with it ( it is an accessory that has to be loaded at boot-up ) but not have it configured for any ram at all. When you need it , just click on the desk accessory , and configure it for the size you want. Maxi- disk is a nice ram disk too , the only draw-back to it is you have to configure it BEFORE you boot , and leave it configured as long as you run your ST.The GOOD part about it , is you can get more into it than a "normal" ram-disk. Let me explain. A ram-disk is actually memory that is confidured as a floppy disk. Let's say you set aside 200K of memory as drive K . For arcing/unarcing files , and for flipping through picture files , ramdisks are faster than floppies , and equal to,or faster than hard disks!! Some programs you can run from ram-disks too. Back to Maxi disk. when you confidure Maxi-disk for 200K , you can probably get 250K worth of files in it . BUT , if you need that 250K worth of memory, you'll be forced to reboot , using a different disk , OR use one of the OTHER PD/SHAREWARE programs available called deskmanager , or Superboot. Print spoolers are the next best thing to multitasking . With a print spooler you can print a long file , and continue to edit , or work on another file. Most of the spoolers are also configurable , with 24K a good size to start with. If you are like me , and need different configurations to boot with, depending upon what you want to do that day , you'll NEED to boot with one of these 2 popular programs. Either Superboot , or deskmanager. They allow you to change the way you boot your ST.Both programs allow you to select which accessories , and auto folder programs to boot up with. Deskmanager , and Superboot both allow for different assign.sys files , which is GOOD , because I use both Degas , and Timeworks Publisher ST , and they have different assign.sys files , for loading GDOS fonts.Both programs will load up the same way ( default ) , unless you hit a key while they are in the booting process. This is nice , so you don't have to think about booting , unless you want to change it. Superboot lets you use function keys , with labels, to specify diferrent boot-up formats.Deskmanager you either select-deselect each program you want seperately. Formatting programs are another popular item. There are so many of them out there it is impossible to name them all. Dcformat is one of the better ones. It allows you to format a floppy that is a DOS bootable disk !! I have used this , and I KNOW it works. It also will format MFS , and HFS formats for Macintosh disks. It will also do the normal 80-82 tracks , and 9-10 sectors , and twisted (SKEWED as it says ) format. For instance , I use 80/10 format for my disks. This will get me 807K per double sided disk , while the "standard" 80/9 will give you 726K per disk. Be Forewarned though , there ARE programs out there that will "let" you format disks up to 86 tracks, and 11 or more sectors. I have seen too many floppies lost , unreadable , after trying some of these programs , so I WILL NOT suggest any more than 80/10 on a regular ST floppy drive. Mystic is a desk accessory that will let you format disks in the background while you continue to work , this is nice for when you have 50 or 60 disks to format for a back-up of your hard disk. There is also a program that will let you format a disk in BOTH floppy drives at the SAME TIME !! Unfortunately I only have one double sided drive so I can't use it to format 2 800K disks . Hard disk back-up Programs are a necessary evil , something we don't WANT to do, but should do. Meg-a-minute , Turtle and Hbackup are 3 of the PD/Share- ware variety. I use Hbackup , but I know lots of people who are very happy using Turtle . For those who don't have batteries , one of the things I always hated was setting the clock everytime I booted up. Schizo.acc was a nice control panel replacement with a nice set- time feature.There are other clock accessories that put the time on the screen, some you can even move the clock anywhere you want. Jclock8d , and Dcclock3 are two of the better ones. There are lots of little PD programs like ratehd , that will tell you how well your drive runs. Whereis is one that helps you find files on your disk , especially nice for those "lost" files on your hard disk. There is a floppy tester , to make sure your drive is spinning at the correct speed , which is 300 rpm + or - 5. One I use quite often is stdcat.prg which is a great floppy disk catalog program. If you have large sets of disks , you can create a catalog and print out your disk file listings by disk. I use it for a listing of my 35 PD disks of software , it helps me find duplicates , old versions , you can update disks in the set , print partial listings.. Alarmclock , for those that need a timer ,ANTIBOMB tells you what the bombs mean , when your ST locks up. Arc.ttp and Dcopy are 2 well used programs that compress files.Thses make it faster to transfer files over a modem , or just for archival purposes , makes them smaller. ATZ and VKILLER are 2 of the many virus checkers , to check for , and rid your disks of any of the viruses you might find. There are even PD word processors , like the one I am using now , called ed.ttp . Another one with LOTS more features is called proed. I like ed.ttp because it is small , quick , and I can call it from inside other programs like vanterm . Memfil20 is one of those programs that most people won't ever need , but it is a nice sector/file/memory editor, for those that know what they are doing. There are spreadsheets , like Opus , mouse speeder-upers, label makers, CAD computer aided design programs , calculators ,printer drivers for most printers ,terminal and computer emulators , like Stxformer , an 8-bit emulator. There are file splitters , file sorters, file readers, tex , a type- setting program , tcos , a database program that takes in graphics as well as text. There are many MANY times more PD/SHAREWARE programs out there , to do everything from check your floppy/hard disk speeds, word finders , file finders , format floppies in the background , format 2 floppies at the same time , set control panel settings , speed up the boot-up process , Notebook/database/address/game accessories , you name it.These are just of the few that I regularly use . And don't forget these are PD/SHAREWARE , so if you use it , and it IS shareware , be sure to send in your contribution to the author , so we can continue to get these great programs at less than commercial costs.