JCSM Shareware Collection 1997 February/JCSM Shareware Collection February 1997 Best of (JCS Marketing)(February 1997).bin/UOTHER__/SYSMON05.ZIP/SYSMON.DOC

Text File | 1997-01-01 | 12KB | 227 lines

   Rosenthal Engineering, P.O.Box 1650, San Luis Obispo, CA USA 93406
   Copyright 1991-1996, U.S. Patent No. 5,359,659 all rights reserved.

    WWW http://slonet.org/~doren/              e-mail [e-mail]


                      Rosenthal System Monitor (tm)


Extensive  tests  are conducted when the computer starts each  day  and  a
detailed diary of changes is maintained. The commented, plain text  report
file shows the conditions and settings before and after the appearance  of
problems as they develop over time, and is vital for making corrections.

Data  is shared with the bonus utility "Rosenthal History  (tm)"  included
ABSOLUTELY FREE with paid registration or upgrade. It maintains a  running
time  line of changes, additions and deletions made to  the  AUTOEXEC.BAT,
CONFIG.SYS, WIN.INI and SYSTEM.INI and Registry files.   (See RE_HIST.DOC)

By providing plain text records of changes preceding problems, their cause
and  solution  are  identified  quickly.  These  tools  enable  even  less
technical  users  to  automatically keep a  diagnostic  log  comprehensive
enough to share with support professionals should that become necessary.

What is System Monitor and why do I need it?

Keeping todays computer systems working efficiently was nearly  impossible
before Rosenthal Engineering developed the patented technology that  makes
System Monitor possible. Just reporting the current system information  is
no longer enough of an insight to resolving problems without the  detailed
diary of changes System Monitor keeps preceding the situation.

System Monitor maintains computers at optimum performance and integrity by
testing,  recording  and extensively monitoring  hundreds  of  performance
indicators. Each day your system is turned on, System Monitor re-evaluates
it  and  records any discrepancies or  diagnostic changes in  a  commented
text  file  log SYSMON.DAT. Knowing what the system looked like  before  a
problem was discovered, greatly simplifies its correction.

The  SYSMON.DAT  log  file maintained by  System  Monitor  discloses  very
detailed  information  about  the system before  and  after  problems  are
introduced.  Knowing the current, previous and changed system  information
commented along with the date and time is an extremely powerful diagnostic
tool  especially for "Plug and Play" applications. Because System  Monitor
maintains  the information automatically as a time line, users  with  very
little technical understanding can resolve problems themselves or at least
provide  competent  information to more  technically  experienced  support
people.

Technical  support  is much more effective when system changes  are  known
before  and after problems are discovered. The report file  SYSMON.DAT  is
maintained as a plain ASCII text file so it may be viewed, printed,  FAXed
or  e-mailed.  By  sharing the commented  System  Monitor  (and  Rosenthal
History)   data  files,  you  can  communicate  very  detailed   technical
information no matter what your level of expertise. Experienced users will
appreciate the level of technical information System Monitor provides, and
neophytes   can   communicate  to  resolve  problems  beyond   their   own
understanding.


What Does System Monitor Do?


The  first  time  you  run System Monitor, it will  go  through  a  simple
installation  procedure that includes a built in editor to add  itself  to
your  AUTOEXEC.BAT file. From then on, each day you start your  computer,
System  Monitor  will re-evaluate your system and record  changes.  System
Monitor is not a TSR (terminate and stay resident program) so it will  not
require any memory after it completes its tests.

Review the SYSMON.DAT file as you would any ASCII text file like this .DOC
file. System Monitor detects problems early, usually before they are  even
suspected   This early monitoring and detection is essential to avoid  and
correct problems quickly, before they can compound.

System Monitor shares data with the bonus utility "Rosenthal History (tm)"
included ABSOLUTELY FREE with paid registration or upgrade. It maintains a
running  time  line  of  changes, additions  and  deletions  made  to  the
AUTOEXEC.BAT, CONFIG.SYS, WIN.INI, SYSTEM.INI and Registry files.

Both Rosenthal History and System Monitor are especially useful to resolve
hardware  and  software  conflicts  and  provide  information  vital   for
technical support.

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                          Installation

Use your systems DATE and TIME functions and verify your systems clock and
calendar  are set correctly. All versions of MS-Windows through WIN95  and
all versions of DOS 3.1 and higher are supported.

System  Monitor  is  designed to be used before you  develop  problems  so
install it as soon as possible. Using Rosenthal UnInstall (tm) before  you
load System Monitor will allow you to remove it later.

The  first  time you run System Monitor, it will insure that it  has  been
copied to the same hard drive that your system boots from and contains the
AUTOEXEC.BAT file.

The  built in editor will aid adding SYSMON.EXE to the AUTOEXEC.BAT  file.
The  up/down  arrow keys will let you position System Monitor  to  add  it
after  any  TSRs are loaded, but before Windows or any  Menu  shells  like
Xtree, Quick DOS, PC-Shell etc.

Next  System Monitor will ask for your name. You'll need it later,  so  be
sure to enter it correctly.

If  you have a serial number, you should enter it exactly as  it  appears.
You  may  try System Monitor for 30 days without a serial number  by  just
pressing  enter without a serial number. To add your serial number  later,
enter "Y" when prompted (a blue message) when the program runs.

System  Monitor will prompt you to remove any floppy diskettes  and  power
off your computer to restart it.

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                 Making Sense Out of the SYSMON.DAT file

You can view, copy print or e-mail SYSMON.DAT as you would any plain ASCII
text  file.  Don't  be overwhelmed by the tremendous  amount  of  detailed
technical  information  System  Monitor records in  the  SYSMON.DAT  file.
Especially if you don't understand all of it.

Trouble shooting is a real skill, and the best trouble shooters learn  how
to  focus  on  the meaningful information relating to  the  problem  being
resolved,  while  not being distracted by all  the  additional  extraneous
information.  Because  System Monitor evaluates your computer  before  and
after problems surface, changes are drawn to attention.

With  a  little  practice, you'll be able to  distinguish  the  meaningful
changed  information from the clutter. Your computer won't always boot  up
exactly  the  same each time. A power on cold boot, warm  boot  (Ctrl-Alt-
Del),  and  pressing reset will all behave differently. Not  all  software
will  run  the  same each time and it's not uncommon  for  some  interrupt
vectors  to  change for no apparent reason.  Additionally  some  scheduled
software  like  automatic back-ups or periodic anti-virus  scans  will  be
noted  by System Monitor. With very little practice, you'll quickly  learn
which changes are important and which can be ignored. The important  thing
is that System Monitor records them before you have a problem, so you  can
concentrate on changes that have caused a problem and dismiss changes that
occur normally. Each system and configuration will be unique.

Few  users will understand all the information revealed in the  SYSMON.DAT
file, but when technical support is required, System Monitor and the bonus
utility Rosenthal History provide the needed answers to turn an  otherwise
frustrating experience into a simple and obvious solution.

Over time, the SYSMON.DAT file may grow to where you'll want to rename  it
and start fresh. To help avoid corruption the file is read-only, so you'll
need  to  set the attribute is you want to rename or erase it..

There  are a number of technical reference books that go into more  detail
on  the internal workings of your computer beyond the scope of  this  .DOC
file.

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                  Rosenthal History (tm)  (FREE BONUS!)

The  bonus  utility "Rosenthal History (tm)" is included  ABSOLUTELY  FREE
with  paid  registration or upgrade. It maintains a  running  timeline  of
changes,  additions  and deletions made to the  AUTOEXEC.BAT,  CONFIG.SYS,
WIN.INI  and  SYSTEM.INI  files. An easy to understand,  plain  text  file
(RE_HIST.DAT) history report can be referred to when uninstalling software
or  to  resolve conflicts. Add Rosenthal History and begin  recording  the
timeline  as  soon as possible. Read the RE_HIST.DOC file for  a  complete
description of this very highly acclaimed, must have utility.

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            Computer Manufacturers, Resellers and Consultants

Because  System  Monitor  maintains  a diary  of  changes,  it  should  be
installed  on  new  or upgraded systems in advance  of  technical  support
calls.  This is especially appreciated by customers during their  critical
first  month and falls within the FREE evaluation period.  Installing  the
unregistered version on customers systems is acceptable, and encouraged.

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                         Orders Outside the U.S.

All  international  orders  are  sent by  air-mail.  See  the  order  form
(SM_ORDER.FRM) for shipping and handling rates.

Yes!  Visa or Master Card can now be accepted and makes currency  exchange
to US Dollars very simple.

Please  be sure to make your payment in "US Dollars" either by (US)  cash,
Visa  or  Master Card, international money order or check drawn  on  a  US
member bank. Otherwise banks want a fifty dollar processing fee to cash  a
twenty five dollar check. Sorry, euro-checks can not be processed.

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                        Software License agreement

You  are  encouraged  to copy and distribute  this  software  provided  it
remains unmodified, complete in its original form, and no fee (other  than
a  nominal  copy charge) is required. This software is  provided  "as  is"
without warranty either expressed or implied.

You may not make any changes or modifications to the software, and you may
not decompile, disassemble or in anyway reverse engineer the software.

This  software  is  provided  "as is"  without  warranties  of  any  kind.
Responsibility rests entirely with the user to determine its fitness for a
particular purpose. ROSENTHAL ENGINEERING SHALL NOT IN ANY CASE BE  LIABLE
FOR SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, INDIRECT OR OTHER SIMILAR  DAMAGES
ARISING  FROM  ANY USE OF THIS SOFTWARE. Some states may not  allow  these
limits  on  warranties,  so they may not apply to you. In  no  case  shall
Rosenthal  Engineering's liability exceed the license fees paid by you  to
Rosenthal  Engineering  for the right to use the Licensed  Software.  Use,
duplication, or disclosure by the U.S. Government of the computer software
and  documentation  in  this package shall be subject  to  the  restricted
rights  applicable  to  commercial  computer  software  as  set  forth  in
subdivision  (b)  (3) (ii) of the Rights in Technical  Data  and  Computer
Software    clause    at    252.227-7013    (DFARS    52.227-7013).    The
Contractor/manufacturer is Doren Rosenthal, Rosenthal Engineering, P.O.Box
1650, San Luis Obispo, California 93406.

This  constitutes  the  entire agreement  and  understanding  between  the
parties  and supersedes any prior agreement or understanding whether  oral
or written and may only be modified in writing.