═══ 1. Welcome Team OS/2 ═══ Hi and a very heart warming WELCOME from Team OS/2 Magalia, CA. . It's that time of year again when the snowy weather starts laying down the white blanket. Leafs have tumbled to the ground, after frolicking and twisting in the air. Then there is the cold wind that keeps blowing! In fact, it is flat out raining and snowing, as it is now February. Some good news this Team Brief, [most of us already knew this!] some have reportedly found the following about OS/2 Warp 3 & 4. The results of some who use and run both Windows 95/98 and OS/2. OS/2 (any Warp version) seems to stay running with less down time than Windows. Those who use it, have found it very reliable, out running Windows at a five to one ratio or better. This is based on operations that use both OS/2 and Windows 95/98 operating systems. They have taken the down time of stations or computers, and have found that this ratio is the norm. This means for each five days of operating, windows may run one day with no problems, while OS/2 at it's low end is running five days. Now extend that to months and years, or move it up to dollars, and that ratio really starts to cost some money. You could ask, how much is it worth to be running four times more proficient, which turns to profit down the line!!? Well even with all that said and done, the main stream keeps turning to MS for solutions to problems that MS for the most part creates. ( Paradox ). The users of OS/2 are very loyal, most who must use Windows in one form or another, do it by making powerful systems that boots to either system from a boot manager, I fall into that order as a lot of us do. Where I can, I purchase products that are developed for OS/2, or by companys that support OS/2 with its hardware or software. This is a must if we are to keep OS/2 alive, and all users should do their part in that area. To make the most effective statement for OS/2, join a support group, such as V.O.I.C.E., POSSI, or a local area User Group. Keep in touch with online sites that promote the growth and use of OS/2. Let vendors who support OS/2 know that you appreciate that support, and that is why you are supporting them. Later in this Brief, and in the future Team Briefs, we are going to start exploring different OS/2 web sites. In the post will be a general discription of what it offers. We will also tell you about some of the links from the site we are reviewing. Well, I guess my time on the soap box is up, and I should stand down and let someone else get on it. O.K., the box is open for any who wish to add or take away, just step up onto the box, it's your turn to speak......... end Danny=G No Takers To Solved Puzzle As Yet???? No person has solved the puzzle as yet, no one has done what was said to be done. This means that the contest is still going on. The last three Team Briefs (four counting this one) have had clues hidden in them. To find them, the person must click on the correct spot to show the clue, then find what the words are, and do what was written. No one is on the winners pick list as to date February. The prize software, is here, it's only the winners that we are waiting for, so start clicking on those previous Team Briefs and find what you need, get on the list, if your name is drawn, you will be the winner (one of them). This Team Brief, has been awhile in the making and OS/2 that was released as OS/2 Warp Server For e-Business, has been running, what are others saying about it so far? These are things we would like to know. If you have a report on how it is working for you, please drop a line and let us know! Thank you for taking the time to download this brief news and information letter from Team OS/2, but to help us keep going, send in your thoughts, your important submissions help keep this brief going. When your interest dies and stops, then this and other news letters will die and stop. It takes a lot of work to get a brief out, and I am very happy to except work put in by others, and YOU! So have fun and enjoy your news/information letter. If you would like to skip to the tips section, just give this WORD a click and it will take you there! End This Section ═══ 2. What's New Or Up And Running ! ═══ Here is a program that we picked up to try from hobbes, and it is on other mirror sites too. For those who like to know what a page of decimal says in english, you will have fun with this freeware Char Table conversion table program. If you need to convert some code, then you will like this fast table at only a mouse click away. This program has a feature that lets you copy and paste to and from the table. This is a very big plus, as it makes it fast and easy to convert or translate code both ways. It is very easy to setup if you have any skills with the computer. If you do not, use your left mouse button and click on your Programs Icon on your desktop. When it opens, look for the icon template that says New Program and with your right mouse button drag it to your desktop. It should open to properties note book and the program page. Type the path and file name for the program in the Required Path and File Name box. In my case, I unzipped the program into a directory that I made called Table, on my C:. So in the box I type the following C:\table\table.exe, and then when I look at the Icon page of the note book settings, I see the Char Table Converter Icon already chosen by the program. That was easy don't you think, I mean it took longer for me to type it out for you to read then it does to do. Following are some screen shots of the program. Shows program started I have typed Team OS/2 in the convert window in ASCII I now point to convert The program will tell you what is going to happen with its message field as you move around the program window. This to is a nice feature, for those of us who get lost easy but follow directions well. We now see how Team OS/2 looks in the different formats Some Help Files & About This program didn't take a lot of time to download, so for the fun or power you get using this program, it's worth it. Lets say you open up a file that looks greek to you, and you know what it's in, you can copy and paste to see what it is or says or does. Have fun with, it really is a keeper. Reviewer:DG Focus on OS/2 forum Delphi has a number of forums for discussion, news and technical help. Included is an OS/2 forum hosted by Walter Metcalf. There is a email weekly newsletter which may be subscribed to, news of interest on our favorite OS, and a technical discussion section where you may ask the forum leader questions, and he or other members may post respones. There are many subjects discussed at once, as well as a huge URL link section, and archive of past topics. To view messages just enter the site. If you wish to ask a question or give an answer you need to create a user name. Once done you may participate in the discussions. When someone responds to your question an automatic email is sent to you, alerting you of a response. To see all of Delphi's forums go to: www.about.com or to go directly to the OS/2 forum: http://www.os2.about.com or to begin at the login page: http://www.delphi.com/ab-os2/start/login. CWE OS/2 & DOS Archive CWE Solutions (cwe.cx) is a small web-hosting service and file archive located in Sioux City, IA. We provide web-page space, email addresses and listserves, owner-administrable multi-user FTP space, and are working on providing dynamic DNS services. Free services include a large archive area, primarily OS/2 shareware and freeware, hard-to-find DOS software, a massive C programming area full of useful source code, and a collection of other arcane files we've found useful over the years. Finally, CWE can provide OS/2 or DOS programming services. We have several shareware products on the market, and write niche utilities on a contract basis. Contact admin@cwe.cx for more info, or stop by http://cwe.cx/ to browse our site. This is a very useful archive with all files classified into understandable sections. Effort is made to to keep only the newest or best versions of software, (an ongoing process). Most if not all software reviewed here will be available at this archive. The connection may be slow at times, awaiting cable modem installation. There is an excellent world headline news page on site which takes you to all categories of news. Saves chasing several sites for your news. Happy surfing! This is the URL reviews for this issue. I may ask Craig at CWE if he would give me a web page there to put all software reviewed in Team Brief (OS/2) news on one page. Then folks would have only one place to look for anything. End Review: Reb Well if you have an idea, or something you think others will enjoy send it in. I am always looking for e-mail with news, or thoughts to use, and my thanks to Reb who is putting new life to the Team Briefs. He and others who stop to share are wonderful help. End Of This Section ═══ 2.1. Your Review ═══ Larsen Commander Having tested and used several OS/2 file managers, there are several good ones available. But I found that something was always missing. Then I discovered Larsen Commander and was hooked. The author, Leif-Erik Larsen from Norway has created an updated version of Norton Commander's famous file manager. There is an enormous amount of features available from menu items or hotkey combinations. In the event the menu does not list the operation desired, check the LCMDKEYS.TXT for the complete list of functions. It is a long list. A nice feature in this software is you can set the Options display feature for mouse, keyboard commands or both. Many of the popular freeware/shareware OS/2 utitlities can be called directly from the file manager. Having two file windows is a must and there is programmable hotkeys to quickly display your most used directories. File icons can be displayed several ways or not at all depending on preference. Interaction with the WPS folders is 2 clicks away and drag 'n drop is always available. While the file management capabilities are the main feature, a command line window is also included. There are several unique commands available in the VIO window as well as the standard command line options. Extra features such as using the up/down cursor keys to display previous commands is helpful and there is a memory list of entered commands which you may edit or delete. The command line window can be displayed either half or full view. If you need the standard OS/2 command prompt press F2 and another menu for OS/2 system utilities such as command prompt, text editors, cd player and clipboard are instantly available. If there is a feature desired not yet included just ask. Personally, I wanted to be able to copy files tagged into the clipboard and Leif-Erik included that along with the complete file path to clipboard in the next version. Thoughtful touches abound, such as press F1 and you get the program info, with the ability to copy email and URL web site direct to clipboard. Many of you are content to use the standard WPS drive folders but I found this to be a slow confusing array of windows. Once using a file manager I hardly used the folders. With Larsen Commander you can call up the correct folder quicker than using Launchpad or Warpcenter. Using alternate WPS shells such as Program Commander/2 a file manager is a necessity. Combine this with the built in command prompt and you have your own little WPS shell inside the file manager. Presently, Larsen is still in beta but nearing completion. The home page is: http://home.sol.no/~leilarse/ The file LCMD0981.ZIP is available from the above URL or you may obtain it in North America from Peter Norloff's site at: www.os2bbs.com or www.cwe.cx/ Craig Miller's OS/2 DOS archive Try Larsen Commander while it is freeware and you will want to keep it! Reviewer: Reb End Section ═══ 3. Main Brief ═══ A Show For California There's always something behind a dream. Some reason, some cause, some adrenalin-pumping fascination that grabs you, turns you towards a goal, and pushes steadily until you're there. In prior years the dream in Southern California always became the annual SCOUG OS/2 show, an open-house affair with lecturers, vendors and exhibits. This year the dream became bigger, better, more widely known. It became Warp Expo West. SCOUG The Southern California OS/2 User Group, or SCOUG, was founded in August 1993. Southern California was an OS/2 hotbed -- Rollin White, a future SCOUG President, had already begun an OS/2 SIG at the 1500-member North Orange County Computer Club, and Steve Schiffman had formed an OS/2 SIG at the Orange Coast IBM PC User Group. There was a thriving OS/2 user group run by Paul Duncan in the San Fernando Valley, a few minutes north of Los Angeles. Various suburban PC clubs had OS/2 SIGs. Team OS/2 was very active, 'We wanted an outreach-oriented group,' says Rollin, 'similar to Team OS/2 but separate. We wanted to bring OS/2 to the community.' A Change Of Plan SCOUG member Steve Schiffman had a dream. The original Warpstock back in 1997 was hosted in SCOUG territory and drew heavily from SCOUG for its manpower. Steve spent early 1999 preparing a bid to host the show in Southern California once again. 'We found the meeting facilities, calculated the budget, spent hours and hours planning the details,' confirms Steve. 'We had three shows of experience behind us - the original Warpstock and the two annual SCOUG events - and we knew what to do and how to get it done.' When the show was awarded to Atlanta, Steve had a project plan and no project. 'Very few people travel 3,000 miles to attend a show,' says Rollin, the man in charge of SCOUG's annual extravaganza. 'SCOUG put on an annual event in prior years and a quick membership survey showed that less than 5% would attend the east coast show. Instead of starting from scratch and planning this year's SCOUG event, we adopted Steve's plan.' The First Shows OS/2 shows have come and gone. OS/2 World was a semi-annual event hosted by Miller-Freeman. OS/2 Professional Magazine hosted shows. There was the OS/2 Marketplace presented by POSSI. For a number of years the IBM Technical Interchange had an OS/2 theme. SCOUG was heavily involved in two shows in 1997, one of them being the first Warpstock. But that wasn't the first one. The first one was called, simply, the SCOUG Open House. 'It was Rollin's idea,' says Carla Hanzlik, Editor of the SCOUG publication OS/2 For You. 'He put the first show together.' And from Rollin: 'One of the goals I've always had is that the SCOUG group members have all this information, but there is no way to disseminate it. The Open House was meant to be a tightly scheduled series of lectures by the group members which would explode the information and knowledge within each of our SIGs to all of the OS/2 community.' That first Open House ran three parallel lecture rooms all day, was heavily attended by members and non-members alike, and gave Rollin and his team the fateful experience they would need a few weeks later, when Warpstock needed help. One Dream, One Team Felix Cruz had a dream. He needed to increase sales for SofTouch, his employer, and wanted an OS/2 show where he could sell his wares and increase his company's exposure. He spoke about his idea for such a show with everyone who would listen, and in the fall of 1996, a full year before the first Warpstock, he had dinner with Rollin White, Carla Hanzlik, and Randell Flint of Sundial Systems. Felix wanted to discuss putting on an OS/2 show. 'We ate at a Red Robin restaurant, and talked about a show,' says Carla. 'Felix wasn't a leader or a manager, but he had a very specific idea and he wanted everybody to consider it. He wanted somebody, somewhere, and maybe it was everybody, everywhere, to put on an OS/2 show.' The success of the first SCOUG Open House the following year gave a momentum push to the simmering Warpstock. There was a Team in California that had done it, knew how to do it, could do it again. Maybe they will help. Help with Warpstock. There were a lot of players spread out across the country at that time. Felix Cruz was part of the initial team, though briefly, and there was Michael Perry, Paul Hethmon, Mark Abramowitz, Rollin White, Esther Schindler, Larry Finkelstein, Judy McDermott. Email kept them joined together, but there wasn't a physical place where they could congregate, divide up the tasks, then hit the street and get the job done. 'Larry was pushing to have Warpstock in Philly,' reminisces Carla, 'but the only team that could put it together was the SCOUG Open House team in California.' The Warpstock Committee made a decision: the show would take place in Los Angeles. Warp Expo West Warp Expo West picked up Steve Schiffman's 1999 proposal and ran. Carla Hanzlik was to be the Webmistress, the offerer of instant information to the masses. Steve Schiffman, the SCOUG Networking SIG leader, took on the Facilities Coordinator job, which meant the building, the rooms, the communication circuits, the food service, and the contracts. Rollin White had already been appointed Event Chairman by the SCOUG Board of Directors. 'We got together for lunch near the Sundial offices where Carla and I work, and Steve drove down from L.A.,' Rollin remembers, 'and somebody asked if we should use a different name. So I said Warp Expo West, and nobody complained. So that was the name. I wish every other decision was that simple!' Luckily for the show, there's a lot of OS/2 development work in California and the lecturer lineup was surprisingly easy. 'I was in the hallway at the SCOUG monthly meeting,' says one prior-year lecturer, 'and from out of the blue Rollin walks up to me and says 'You'll be speaking in the third lecture time period, and here's your topic.' And he's such a nice guy, it's really hard to say 'no'.' Exhibitors are a little different. 'It takes constant work to bring vendors to a show,' says Rollin. 'You contact them, remind them, ask them, explain the show to them, it's a sales job. We worked hard and got some good ones.' Warp Expo West also had something new - a vendor presence over the 'net. 'We had a suggestion for a virtual exhibitor space called Vendor100, a product area where people could try OS/2 software, see the vendor web sites, talk to knowledgeable people about the applications, and buy on line. We put up a registration page just for the Vendor100 program, and let everyone know it was there.' Rollin considers the Vendor100 showcase a Warp Expo West 'first'. 'It's been wildly successful,' he says. Warpstock One of the first problems the original Warpstock faced was money. There wasn't any. There were no financial backers, and no promoter with a bankroll. Rollin White took the problem to SCOUG, and the group stepped forward with an offer to both host and fund the event. There was no Warpstock bank account; all funds passed through SCOUG. Things then picked up steam. Paul Hethmon, based in Memphis, signed up many of the lecturers. SCOUG Board member Mark Abramowitz found the wonderful facilities where the first Warpstock would be held, and other members joined on as the on-site crew. OS/2 software developers were contacted, many by Mark, and asked to be exhibitors. The OS/2 Museum, the huge assemblage of OS/2 history curated by Terry Warren and Carla Hanzlik, was brought in from SCOUG's Open House. 'We were surprised at the turnout,' remembers Rollin. 'People were simply showing up at the door. We never did find out how they knew about the show.' The Dream Forever Warp Expo West is a culmination of one team's experience creating OS/2 shows. The original SCOUG Open House, followed by the original Warpstock, followed by the next year's SCOUG Open House gave one core group of people the experience that created Warp Expo West. 'OS/2 users want shows,' says Terry Warren, President of SCOUG. 'They want to meet other OS/2 users, learn from OS/2 lectures, see and buy OS/2 products.' 'When every city has an annual OS/2 show, I'll be happy,' says Rollin White. 'There are OS/2 users everywhere, and they want and should have this kind of support. That's what a grassroots effort like Warp Expo West or Warpstock is all about.' 'It's not about creating a sales floor where exhibitors can sell their products. It's not about creating a corporate marketplace for the Fortune 500.' 'Warp Expo West is for every OS/2 user, small or large. There's no restriction, no minimum or maximum size, no qualification procedure. This show, and every show like it, should be for everyone.' 'My ideals and goals have never changed. We - you and I and every one of us together - have the knowledge that makes OS/2 strong. Warp Expo West isn't a show but rather a concept, a massive transfer of vital information between OS/2 users from every background, and with that transfer comes the new strength that always carries OS/2 forward. Warp Expo West exists for that one reason.' For more on Warp Expo West the web page can be found at http://www.scoug.com/warpexpowest. end post [The editor of the Team Brief would like to tell everyone who worked so hard for Warp Stock, Warp Expo West, and for the Team OS/2 Spirit, thank you, for putting the OS/2 Community as a whole first.] Danny=G} There are many who make things work, drop by the Group sites around the Web. Places such as www.os2voice.org or www.scoug.com, and say hi. Thank you, if you have a experience to share please send it to me, dannygos2@aol.com keep it hhhuummmiiinnggggg.................................. End Section ═══ 4. Ideas And Tips ═══ Before we move into some help and tune-up tips, we think it best to give some much needed clues here, about the words you should have. Yes, if you have clicked in the right spots on all of the Team Brief's pages, words, graphics, just click on almost anything, and you will find the scrambled words to unScramble, and the clue to do what needs to be done. As of the time of publishing this Team Brief, no person has found or sent anything in to me ( NOTE THAT THIS LINE IS A CLUE TOO ), it is the what to do thing you know. A couple of Briefs back we started with a tune up guide series of articles. We continue with that in this one, and hope it is helpful to many of you who need the information. What is even more important is that we need feed back from those who read and use the Team Brief. With out your input, stories, ideas, tips, or software and hardware review, the Team Brief and other news letters die. As they should, if no one is really interested in them why keep publishing them? Our last tune-up section covered Ram, CPU, Mother Board, and then we left with the thoughts about hard drives, bit and bytes, getting information and how it all works. So this is our starting point in this Team Brief. Please keep in mind that this information is with the perspective of using OS/2, not just Windows. Also, remember your mileage may differ. You know, what works for me may not for you? The fixed disk devices today are very fast, much faster then the older model some of us put up with for years. However the most time consuming part about a computer is still DATA ACCESSING AND TRANSFER, THEN USE. The faster you can get data from the stored area, to the use area, will give higher performance of your system. You must look at the whole chain of events. In order for the data to be accessed an access arm must be positioned over a disk plate, and then the disk must turn to a read station. By way of mechanical means and not electronic, makes this a slow point in the access process. Fixed disk ACCESS TIME is based on these actions industry wide. Often this is used to confirm or measure the speed of your fixed disk or hard drive inside your computer your using this minute. This access time should be printed on the drive and is from 8ms to 30ms ( most fall into the faster side). Now that everything is in line, the computer is ready to get the data (read). The data is now gathered and sent across the BUS and into RAM. Lets go through the cycle: The CPU says read data from disk at track ***, then commands sent to disk, the arm again is positioned for read, the data accepted, passes to control card and then Bus, onto memory, and all the while keeps informing the operating system. This can all take a chunk out of speedy access time. What this all adds up to is that for a true speedy and smooth running machine, all the components that make up the, Store Read Write [or use of the data stored], must be tuned and fast, built computers that have the latest technology with a regular maintenance plan. A plan that defrags the disk, removes files that are not needed, and only use top of the line parts. The data bus is the means that your I/O controllers send the needed commands, data and magic through the system to the cpu and the memory. So make sure that you have a mother board that has a fast bus, one that is fitting for other parts in the system. This moves us into the ISA controller, or the EISA (extended industry architecture). These go betweens from the hard disk, to bus, to memory and use of data are all areas that have an effect on the speed of your system. We then have the PCI (peripheral component interconnect), developed by Intel. All these range from 16 bit to the newer 64 bit PCI and the like. All these areas have the potential to be bottle necks for data transfer and use. You should always look at data beyond just stored, and transferred. Remember to always add use, for without that part of the equation, its then incomplete. You can have a fast disk, a fast cpu, with all the buses at top speed too, but then have a bottle neck that slows performance. What is it? It's the mother board and its bios. If your L2 cache in your bios settings is turned off (needed for install of OS/2 at times) you could have a real slow down. Cache is used everywhere, software to hardware. Cache on your hard disk, on the cpu, some controllers, even your CD Rom and Ram can make use of it for performance increase. Using video cards that carry their own onboard memory and chache will give you a big improvement too. If you purchase a video card that holds its own memory, get its limit on memory then or as soon as possible. It makes a big improvement. While I am on the video card, it is my thought that AGP [Accelerated Graphics Port] card is the best way to go. You want to think of this when you purchase the motherboard, and buy the board that has the AGP slot on it. So you have all the parts that are the fastest, max memory, fast hard drives, top of the line motherboard with all the fast buses and controllers to match. You even have the AGP video slot with 32 mb of onboard ram video card [like the G400 Matrox]. You are now going to be running in tip top shape, because you even remembered to turn your bios L2 Cache back to ON. Thats it, right? Well,......... no, its not it. With OS/2, your operating systems configuration system [config.sys] has a lot to do with how all those components we talked about above, work and run. Yes, how they use the data you need to run that program or hardware. In the next Team Brief, we will move to the config.sys file, and how it works, what settings work for me with my system, and what is what or does what. I would love to get some input from any of you, what settings do you use that works for you. What video card do you like, sound card, and how do you have them setup? Remember, what works for you could work for many others, and what works for me, may stop your system cold. Please feel free, and take the time to send it to the Team Brief. end section DG The address below, is for service from IBM OS2ddpak online site. This was sent and was not tried my anyone here, so if it works it does, if it does not, let us know. http://service.software.ibm.com/os2ddpak/html/os_2comp/installa/index.htm End Section ═══ 5. Closing Until Next Time ═══ Wow, can not believe that 2000 is here and moving right along. I had always thought when I was boy that "gee, when its the year 2000 I'll be fortysix" and it seem to be so far off, but here it is, and yes I am fortysix years of age now.[smile] You noticed the new section here in this Team Brief called Your Review. As the name implies, this is a spot for your reviews of software or hardware that you have or try. You can let others in the OS/2 community know your view on a product or program for OS/2. The pro's the con's, the how I got it to work, or why it isn't good for me! I look forward to your reviews here, what ever you are, a novice or a pro. We look forward to hearing from you. We also want to hear from you about solving the puzzle here in the last Team Briefs. We are waiting for winners names, so catch the last three Briefs and start clicking, just like a photo. Now thats a clue too. The following joke is rated PG13 Children's Books You'll Never See "You Are Different and That's Bad" "Dad's New Wife Timothy" "Pop! Goes The Hamster....And Other Great Microwave Games" "Testing Homemade Parachutes Using Only Your Household Pets" "The Hardy Boys, the Barbie Twins, and the Vice Squad" "Babar Meets the Taxidermist" "Curious George and the High-Voltage Fence" "The Boy Who Died from Eating All His Vegetables" "Start a Real-Estate Empire With the Change From Your Mom's Purse" "Things Rich Kids Have, But You Never Will" "The Care Bears Maul Some Campers and are Shot Dead" "How to Become The Dominant Military Power In Your Elementary School" "Controlling the Playground: Respect through Fear" "You Were an Accident" "Strangers Have the Best Candy" "The Little Sissy Who Snitched" "Some Kittens Can Fly!" "Getting More Chocolate on Your Face" "Where Would You Like to Be Buried?" "Kathy Was So Bad Her Mom Stopped Loving Her" Amer- Hey! Let's Go Ride Our Bikes!" "All Dogs Go to Hell" "The Kids' Guide to Hitchhiking" "Garfield Gets Feline Leukemia" "What Is That Dog Doing to That Other Dog?" "Why Can't Mr. Fork and Ms. Electrical Outlet Be Friends?" "Bi-Curious George" "Daddy Drinks Because You Cry" end: David and Denise, Chico Well thats it for this Team Brief, we hope this year is a better one for the news letter, and that more of you are motivated to help also. Thank you to all those who contributed. See ya, Keep it huummiinnggg End Team Brief First Of 2000 ═══ 5.1. ReadMe ═══ The Team Brief is a Team OS/2 News Letter put into a brief INF format. What it is trying to attempt is to give views from both Users of OS/2 and Team Members. It has been published since November of 1996, however the first real format of the Team Brief began the following month of December. It has and will try to cover issues in the world of OS/2, stories, thoughts, pictures, and new software. Along with what Team OS/2 and other User Groups are up to. Since the Team Brief of 10/97, we have had sound incorporated into the Team Brief. For you to hear the sound, you must have MMPM/2 installed and the DLL file " IPFE_VSM.DLL " copied into your OS2\DLL directory. You may have it in another directory if the directory you choose is in your path statement. If you do not have the IPFE_VSM.DLL, or do not have it in the right directory, a error message will/may appear telling you. You can just close the message box and go on with no problems. You can get the IPFE_VSM.DLL from downloading the Team Brief " tmb1097.zip " ( hobbes ) or the " tmb1097.exe " (AOL). It is also on other OS/2 BBS's with the same names. This file is the Team Brief packaged along with the DLL file that lets you have sound with the Team Briefs. Or you can e=mail me at dannygos2@aol.com and I will be happy to send it to you. After you get it, just copy the DLL IPFE_VSM.DLL to your DLL directory in your OS2 directory. You will now hear sound, ( should anyway ). Me at my new job, being home waving hi to everyone Daniel Goggia (Danny=G ) is the editor of the Team Brief. He writes for it along with others who contribute their time and thoughts. Daniel is retired from a government agency as Bridge Structure Supervisor. He is also a hobby programmer ( QikBac, QikView & QikView2 ). He has been working with OS/2 since version 2.0 and has been with Team OS/2 since version 2.1. Any persons who wish can submit a tip, story, thought[s], comment[s], picture[s] (digital), sound bite ( small wav ), or something of interest to others who use OS/2. Please send them to dannygos2@aol.com