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=====News & Views <psl_logo.pcx>
Contents:
-----DOS & Windows Utilities
-----Does Not Compute... (Bug Reports)
-----Missing Authors
-----Retail Products
============================
-----DOS & Windows Utilities
This month's CD-ROM contains all the utility programs in the
library for both DOS and Windows, in addition to the 850 new
programs written up in this issue. So this seems like a good time
to provide everyone with an overview of the utilities in the
library. For the benefit of those who do not get the CD, we have
included the disk numbers.
The Utilities sections are the most extensive in PsL. We can
only give you a flavor in this limited space. For complete write-
ups of all the programs, see the U1-*, U2-*, WI-06, WI-09, and
WI-9A sections of the Reviews Disks or the TXT files in the
UTILS directory of this month's CD.
We will look at the DOS utilities first.
---Archiving:
Archiving programs can compress one or more files into a
single archive file. This has two very valuable benefits: to keep
sets of files together so that related files do not get lost and to
reduce by an average of 50% the amount of disk space used.
The two most popular archivers at this time are LHA (for-
merly known as LHarc) and PK-Zip, both of which are in Mega-
Disk Set #27059 with some related utilities.
A regular archive file has a filename extension, such as ARJ,
LZH or ZIP, which indicates the program used to archive the files.
This is because the same (or compatible) program must be used to
extract the files from the archive when you want to use them.
If an archive file has an extension of EXE or COM, it is called
a self-extracting archive because no other program is required to
extract the contents. When you run a self-extracting archive, it
dearchives itself, just as the name says.
Once you have dearchived files from an archive, you no
longer need the archive file and can delete it. On the other hand,
dearchiving an archive does not delete the files from the archive,
it simply copies them out and expands them, so if you keep the
original archive, you can dearchive it again if something happens
to the original files.
If you have programs or other types of files which you do not
want to delete from your hard disk but which take up a lot of
space and are rarely used, you could keep them archived and only
dearchive them when you need to use them.
A drawback to archiving files to save disk space is that you
have to dearchive the files before you can use them. An alterna-
tive to archiving for program files (those with EXE or COM
extensions) is to use a program compressor such as LZEXE,
TinyProg, ComPack, Diet, or PKLite (all of these are also part of
MegaDisk Set #27059 for $6.99).
These programs will compress program files but still allow
you to run them. In fact, compressed programs load faster
because reading from disk is slow and less data has to be read
from disk.
There are countless utilities for working with archiving pro-
grams, but the most popular are those which provide a menu-
driven interface for the archivers, which are command-line
driven themselves. MegaDisk set #27472 has such popular shells
as ArcMaster and SHEZ.
We also have utilities for handling old, outdated archive for-
mats which you might still run across and for handling archive
from Macintosh computers.
---Anti-Virus:
Not much has to be explained about viruses - the popular
press has gone overboard in spreading the word about them,
along with many myths. Be sure to see the file MYTHS on disk
#1513 for a balanced view.
There are a number of popular virus checkers, such as F-Prot
(#3675), Integrity Master (#3951), and McAfee's (MegaDisk Set
#27397).
---Batch File Utilities:
Batch files are actually little programs - a set of instructions
carried out by the computer. There are even utilities which let you
compile your batch files - convert them from straight text into
machine code so that they run faster and cannot be changed. (See
TurboBat on #12164.)
Because of the limited number of commands which DOS sup-
ports in batch files, writing batch files is much easier than learn-
ing a real programming language. Utilites in PsL's Batch File
section let you add many powerful features to your batch files,
but do not increase the difficulty of writing batch files.
These utilities let you get input from users (#1008), play
sounds & speech (#1146), display fancier screens (#2162,
#4224), get and act upon information about the system configura-
tion (#0271 & #2394), and much more.
To learn how to write batch files, get the Batch File Tutorial
on disk #0242 and also look in your DOS manual. Studying
installation and other batch files which come with shareware pro-
grams is another good way to learn.
---Disk & Drive Utilities:
If you are a shareware author or have some other reason to
make a lot of copies of one disk, you will definitely be interested
in programs such as DiskDupe (#1939) which have an option of
making an image of your master floppy, including boot sectors,
on your hard disk and making disk copies from that, including
formatting new disks if needed.
Fordsk (also on #1364) is a very powerful floppy disk format-
ter. In addition to normal high-speed disk formatting, it will let
you specify cluster size, hidden sectors, and much more. This
could let you create copy-protected diskettes if you can program
in a low-level language.
Disk #2459 has a number of interesting disk formatters.
BGFRMAT formats disks in the background. FDRead format
disks beyond their rated capacities.
Combi-Disk (on #1150) lets you set up a RAM disk and disk
cache in the same area of extended memory.
---Directory Listers & Editors:
Everyone should have a sorted directory lister. Utilities like
HotDIR Plus display files sorted in 1, 2, 4, or 6 columns, using
colors to indicate different types of files.
If you want to actually write the sorted directory back to disk,
CSap (on #1675) may be the best utility around for that purpose.
It is infinitely easier to use than Norton's directory sorter, for
example.
---File Changing, Copying, and Deleting:
Utilities in this section, such as Textcon on #0781, let you
clean up files by removing junk characters from them, convert
files from one format to another, change data files from fixed for-
mat to delimited, etc. This section also includes utilities for com-
paring two files (#1440)
Disk #0784 has a variety of utilities which let you copy files
with a number of options, but perhaps the most essential type of
utility on the disk is a file mover, which lets you move a file
between directories on your hard disk without having to copy
then delete it. BCMove is one of the best of that type.
Disk #1441 lets you delete files with verification, based on
file dates, deleting all BUT specified file types, and much more.
Trash-It is a unique utility which can let you recall files that have
been deleted, even if Undelete utilities will not work.
Disk #2000 contains programs for splitting large files onto
multiple floppies and reuniting them. Disk #1190 has file sorting
utilities which far outshine DOS's SORT.EXE. Disk #0425 con-
tains file and sector editors. Disk #1713 contains many file
encryption utilities.
---File Cataloging:
Keeping track of files on the countless floppies you have lay-
ing around is much easier with one of the disk catalog programs
in this section. DiskCat and CatDisk (no relation), InteliCat, and
PMCat+ are are on MegaDisk Set #27338.
---File Managers:
Anyone who works in DOS should have a file manager. The
best ones let you see two or more sorted directories at once, mak-
ing it easy to compare them, copy files between them, etc.
CM_Filer (#3541) is a very good one.
File managers also make it easy to work in a single directory.
You can mark files for mass deletion, copying, viewing, and so on.
---Hard Disk Utilities:
Utilities like Duplicate File Locator (#3470) make it easy to
clean up your hard disk. Flexibak Plus (#3387) and MegaBack
(#4351) are outstanding hard disk backup utilities.
Disk #0842 is popular; it has various types of hard disk head
parking utilities to help protect your hard drive data in case the
head crashes. HDTest (#0698) tests hard disks much more thor-
oughly than programs such as Norton's.
Disk #1996 covers hard disk security. There a lot of supposed
"password" programs which can be bypassed as easily as booting
from a floppy. Programs like MagLoc, Secure and SysLock (all
on #1996) prevents booting from a floppy as well as from the
hard disk, as does Guardian on #3031, and others.
Disk #12348 lets you password protect individual programs
on your hard disk. JLock, on the same disk, protects ANY file
from being opened, created, exectued, deleted, or renamed.
---Subdirectory Utilities:
This section contains programs which make it easier to navi-
gate through subdirectories (#1405), display all files in all direc-
tories (#1034), copy, merge or delete entire directories (#2005),
clean up directories (#2169), find files anywhere on a drive
(#2410 & #3409), and more. PocketD (#4033) combines many of
these functions and a lot more into a single program.
---File View, Compare, Other:
A text file viewing utility is another essential. The most pow-
erful and best known is List (on #1550). Disk #3410 has pro-
grams which let you convert text files into self-scrolling
programs which require no file viewing utility.
Other programs in this section make it easy to change file
attributes (#0274), recover deleted or damaged files (#2163),
search files for a specified bit of text (#4131 - try FGREP first),
find and replace text in files (#4768), and more.
---Desktop Programs:
There are two types of computer programs - Utilities and
Applications. Applications are programs which are directed at the
outside world, such as creating documents, graphics, etc. Utilities
are programs which are directed at the computer, its components,
and other programs.
Many Desktop Programs do not meet this definition of Utili-
ties but they have always been included in Utilities for want of a
better place to put them. They include pop-up notepads (#2001),
calendars (#3412), alarm clocks (#2395 & #3970), telephone
dialers (#1189, #2397), and calculators (#1551, #2396, #4138).
---DOS Menu/Shell Programs:
DOS Menu programs let you run programs without having to
deal with the DOS prompt. A fairly decent one comes with DOS
now, but there are many others in PsL for every taste, including
very attractive Graphical User Interfaces requiring VGA, such as
Magic Desk (#12467), Picture Shell Menu (#4114), and Icon-
DOS (#12223).
---Keyboard, Mouse & Joystick:
A keyboard macro program such as the very powerful
Newkey (#0290) or the more compact DDKey (on #1149) let you
execute multiple commands and/or enter strings of text, including
cursor movements, with a single keypress - a must for performing
repetitive tasks in DOS or in any program.
There are many other programs in this section for redefining
one or more keys, stuffing keystrokes into the keyboard buffer,
speeding up the keyboard's typeamatic rate, and more.
---Operating System Utilities:
DOS Command Editors are similar to DOSKey which now
comes with DOS. DOSKey was based on these pd/shareware
utilities, but the latter are often more flexible and powerful. We
still use Chris Dunford's CED (#1346) at PsL.
Other OS utilities include those which let you get into DOS
from within any program at any time, which let you edit the DOS
environment variables such as PATH, which let you get out of
some program lockups and rescue from memory. (All of these are
on #0276) TSR Utilities (#0436) include Mark-Release (TSR-
COM) which let you unload TSRs from memory.
4DOS (MegaDisk Set #27589) completely replaces COM-
MAND.COM and provides many of the features you can normally
only get by using a collection of separate pd/shareware utilities.
Back & Forth (#27568), On-Call and ALT (both in set #27064)
are task swapping utilities that let you change from one program to
another without having to quit and restart each program.
---System Setup, Testing & Control:
Hot programs in this section include BootSys (#12389) for
letting you pick during boot-up which device drivers and TSRs to
install; Burn-In (#1203), which does extensive testing of comput-
ers; RamTest (#1580) for testing memory; TimeSet (#1090) for
automatically calling the U.S. Naval Observatory to keep your
system's clock accurate; PC-Info (on #0727) for listing all the
components in your system.
Disk #2409 has CPU slow-down utilities to help when run-
ning older games or other programs which may run too fast on
newer machines. Painless Even Processor (#3261) lets you set up
your system for unattended operation of programs, such as for
backing up files at night.
---Utility Sets:
There are collections of utilities, each by a single author and
usually accessible from a single menu. These are more conve-
nient and usually cheaper to register than individual utilities by
multiple authors, but may not be as powerful, so be sure to com-
pare.
If you are a Unix fan, you'll want to look at MegaDisk Set
#7263 which includes collections of Unix-like utilities.
---Video Utilities:
If you work in DOS a lot, you will find a backscroll utility to
be very handy. Utilities such as ScrollIt on #2769 let you page
back up to see information that has scrolled off the screen in DOS.
Other screen utilities include changing the number of lines
per screen in DOS, TSR screen blankers (#12286, 3184, 4350),
different EGA and VGA screen fonts, capturing screens to disk
(#1036, 12294, 4201 & 2247), specialized screen printing (also
on #1036), changing screen colors in DOS (#0280), adjust the
cursor shape and blink rate (#2915).
MegaDisk Set #20140 includes a number of programs for
magnifying all or part of the screen and other programs for the
vision impaired.
---OS/2 Programs:
People frequently ask why we don't have more for OS/2. The
reason is that we don't write the software (for the most part), we
just distribute what others write and are limited to the volume of
software written by others.
Still, there is a pretty good variety of programs for OS/2
(which are not just utilities): clocks & calendars (#4695), file
management utilities (#1549), graphics utilities (#4854), PM pro-
grams (#2248), games (#4694), printing utilities (#12425), sys-
tem utilities (#2460), video utilities (#4770), text editors (Boxer
on #20412), spelling checker (#4671), address book (#12678),
communications program (#2202, #20202), archiving (#2029),
database (#2133), and much more.
---Win31 - Program & File Managers:
As in DOS, the utilities Microsoft has provided for Windows
leave a lot of room for improvement in terms of power and flexi-
bility. Although Program Manager's icon-based program launch-
ing looks nice, it can be a time-consuming nuisance to find a
particular program's Program Group, open the group, find the
desired program's icon, and double-click on it.
Programs such as David Stafford's LAUNCH (on #3347) let
you pop up a list of programs and simply click on the one you
want to run. Many program launchers, such as Click! Filer (on
#20004), also offer file management functions, so you can do
away with both Program Manager and File Manager.
File Commander (#27864) lets you add up to 99 menu items
nested up to four levels deep to File manager. Folders (#4698) lets
you add sub-folders within Program Groups in Program Manager.
Super Stuff (#12327) goes even further with providing five dif-
ferent formats: icon, vertical list, multi-column, text, and toolbar.
PsL carries a huge array of enhancements and replacements
for Program Manager, FIle Manager, and Task Manager. If you
are still just using the ones which came with Win31, you are sell-
ing yourself short.
---Win31 - Other Utilties:
Archive Management: There are a number of Windows
front ends for PKZIP. One of the most popular is WinZip (#4535;
requires PKZIP only for advanced functions).
Anti-Virus: VirusScan for Windows (#4041) is a Windows
version of the well-known McAfee SCAN program. WinProtect
(#4455) is another virus scanning program for Windows.
Disk Cataloging: DiskTrak for Windows (#4526) and Disk-
Man #(4643) are good for keeping track of files on floppy disks.
Encryption: Encrypt-It for Windows (#12274) is a powerful
encryption/decryption package.
Security: Security for Windows (#12712) lets you password
protect programs in Program Manager and also modify PM so
that no programs can be run which are not on the PM menu.
Disk Copying & Formatting: Sabdu (#3960) provides an
interface for copying, comparing and formatting diskettes.
Hard Disk Backup: Second Copy (#12514) backs up files in
the background.
Install/De-Install: WinInstall (#20260) lets Network users
install or remove Windows apps with a single mouse click.
Printing: CodeMaker (#4994) prints barcodes. Envelogo
(#12513) prints envelopes with a fancy logo return address. Mul-
tiLabel (#4510) is a WYSIWYG label designing program. Winve-
lope (#20313) allows you to capture an address from any Windows
document or screen and print the address on an envelope.
System Setup: Win Multiple Configurations (#12145) allows
you to maintain and choose among up to eight different Windows
configuration environments.
Video: BackDesk (#3545) gives you a virtual desktop of up to
8x8 times the size of your screen. There are also a large number
of attractive, fun, and interesting screen savers in the library.
-----Does Not Compute...
PsL welcomes readers' letters and bug reports. Letters to PsL
become the property of PsL and may be edited for publication for
brevity or clarity.
---File Notes 1.0 vs Norton Desktop
John Oxley, Halifax, Nova Scotia:
I installed the program and it worked fine in File Manager
but when I ran Norton Desktop for Windows, NDW crashed.
PsL: We have confirmed that the program is not compatible
with Norton Desktop for Windows and will add this information
to our reviews.
---ZapCHK
William Quick, Independence, MO:
This program requires another product PKLite to unpack
CHKDSK and I can't find it on any of your CD-ROMs, did I miss
it?
PsL: You can get it on this month's CD which features the
Utility sections of the library. Look under Archiving.
---Chart1
Richard Weatherford, Huntington Beach, CA:
When I try to view the chart files I get an error message
"unrecoverable error -- 5". I'm using an 8088 with CGA but the
documentation doesn't state any limitations.
PsL: The documentation doesn't state EGA/VGA required,
but since it works fine on our EGA/VGA systems, we will
assume that is the problem and add the requirement to our
reviews.
-----Missing Authors
The authors of the following programs can no longer be
reached at the address listed in their documentation:
League Play Scheduler (J. Millikin), VControl (James Shaw),
DoorStop (Scott Johnson), CMOS (Roedy Green), Cars (Joel
Kurasch), Word Search for Windows (Steven Stern), Sit (David-
son Corry), Fonetic Speling (Edward Rondthaler), Context
(Haim Avni), CopyFix (Dan Smith), TIM Utilities (David Down-
ing), Mortgage Plus & Tracker (Michael J. Peters).
-----Selected Retail Products
Multi-function Interface Card (#30052) $29.95
Simple jumper settings let you choose the ports you
need from the following: 1 parallel, 1 game, 2 serial,
2 floppy, 1 IDE hard drive.
486-33SX Motherboard (#30429) $169.00
Upgrade your present computer with a brand new 486
motherboard! Use the same drives, controllers, video,
and other interface cards in your present machine. Get
1 MB SIMMs for $45 if you need new/more RAM.
---Games:
Pirates Gold (#30422) $44.95
FPS Football Pro (#30415) $45.00
Tristan Pinball (#30371) just like the real thing $34.95
Pinball for Windows (#30394) ON SALE!!$19.95
---Games on CD-ROM:
Hell Cab CD-ROM (#30425)$55
Chessmaster CD (MPC) (#30242)$30
CD Game Pack #30186 (card, board & arcade games) $30
King's Quest V (MPC or DOS) (#30187) SALE $20
Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe CD (#30322) $30
Spirit of Excalibur CD ( #30313) $30
Strike Commander CD (#30380) $59
---Other CDs:
Bible Library (#30191)$49
Color Magic Clip Art (#30404) color clip art $49
Microsoft Encarta (MPC) encyclopedia (#30379)$279
Toolworks Ref. Library (#30210) $55
Viva 2000 - Learn English from Spanish #30303 $49
Wild Places (#30257) $29
Women of Venus (swimsuit models) (#30403) $30
---Other:
Name Tag Kit #30028 (for parties or conventions)$59.95
QuickToons for Windows (#30399) $19.95
These are real, full-motion cartoons from tv/movies.
PC Command (Game) Pad (#30414) $15.00
This is a game pad (joystick replacement) just like on
the most popular video games. Use with many arcade
games in PsL.
CD Caddies #3031510 for $50
Protect your valuable CDs by having a caddy for each
one. (S&H: $5) Single unit price: $6.50 plus S&H.
NEVER PAY ANOTHER SHAREWARE DISK FEE!
Why pay up to $5 a disk to try a single program when you
can get thousands of programs for under $20. Get one of
these CD-ROM drives and start saving money today!
SyDos Personal CD (#30385) $99/mo. for 3 months
by credit card only. $297 by check. 3 mo. PsL CD FREE!
(Free CD offer for new subscribers only - starts with current
issue of the PsL Monthly CD.) Virtually no installation!!
Plugs into parallel port. Perfect for laptops or desktops.
(Not MPC compatible. 550ms access time.) (Add $8 s&h)
Omni CD Kit (#30428) $75/mo. of 3 months
Double-Speed, MPC-Compliant, Internal CD-ROM Drive
For just $75/month for three months on credit card or
$225 by check. (Add $7 s&h). 3 months PsL CD FREE!
(Free CD offer for new subscribers only, as above.)
Packaged and supported by Creative Labs.
---PsL Monthly CD-ROM (single issue price)$29.95
Subscribe for $19.95 per month plus $4 shipping,
charged monthly, cancel any time. Satisfaction
guaranteed -- return the CD for a full refund if not
completely pleased.
Get all the new/updated programs written up in
PsL News each month PLUS a different section of
our disk-based library each month, starting with
Programming in December (sold out), Games in
January (sold out), then Business (including Comm.,
Database, Engineering, Mailing List, Spreadsheets,
Statistics, and Church/Religion), Home (including
Education), Utilities (includes all OS/2 programs),
and then Words, Graphics & Sounds.
In six months, you will have all 10,000+ programs
in our extensive library, all arranged by subject.
A few back issues are still available for September -
March (excl. Dec., Jan.) @ $29.95 plus $4 shipping.