COLLEGE AID CALCULATOR (tm) CAC 96-7 README.TXT 2/24/96 (c) Copyright 1996 Welcome! YOU HAVE PERMISSION TO COPY AND DISTRIBUTE College Aid Calculator ----------------------------------------------------------------- Pass copies of CAC along to friends with college in their future. To do so, either make copies of the disks you have or place all downloaded files onto 2 disks. See INSTALLING CAC below. QUICK START (For more details see INSTALLING CAC below.) -------------------------------------------------------- 1. AUTOEXEC.BAT needs SHARE /F:5024 /L:200 (before WIN) 2. CONFIG.SYS needs FILES=50 and BUFFERS=32. 3. a. Installing from Disk--A:SETUP b. From Hard Drive--C:\TEMP\SETUP 4. Restart your computer. 5. Add CAC icon or C:\COL_AID\CAC Navigation within this README.TXT file. --------------------------------------- To Print README, press Alt & F simultaneously, then P and ENTER. Exit is Alt-F, then X. Search is Alt-S --or just click your mouse on any menu choice. Edit is Alt-E If you wish to Edit this README.TXT file: ----------------------------------------- To cut and paste to suit your needs, it may be more efficient to use your word processor. Select File, Open, File Type: ASCII, and find REAME.TXT in the COL_AID directory. Why?--because this copy of README is located on/in your installation disk/directory. MEMORY - DOS Installation: -------------------------- You will need either 4 MB of RAM with at least 2 MB of free (XMS) extended memory & 256 K free conventional memory or, if you have less than 4 MB of free XMS memory, you will need approximately 6 MB of free disk space (in addition to the 6.5 MB of disk space used for the CAC program files) for a virtual memory swap file. MEMORY - 8 MB needed in Windows ------------------------------- DISK SPACE: 10 MB are needed during installation, 6.5 MB after. --------------------------------------------------------------- Old Computers: -------------- CAC is a 32 bit program, it will not run on an 8088 or 80286--and on a 386 it runs very slowly--(Those 486 upgrade chips do help.) CONFIG.SYS - How to check to see if this file is set up for CAC: ---------------------------------------------------------------- At your C:\ DOS prompt (the drive where your computer boots from), type "edit config.sys" and press [Enter]. One of the lines should say FILES=50 (more than 50 is fine). Another line should say BUFFERS=32 (more is OK). Increase the numbers if necessary. A DPMI memory manager such as HIMEM.SYS, QEMM.SYS or 386MAX must also be loaded. If you see one of these names (or if you are using another manager), you are all set. If not, look up HIMEM.SYS in your DOS manual and install it as instructed. A copy of HIMEM.SYS is included in your COL_AID directory. AUTOEXEC.BAT ------------ If the SHARE command is not installed in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file, a message will come up when you install CAC asking if you want CAC to install it for you. If CAC does install SHARE (or, even if SHARE has been installed previously), may need to adjust its location (or size) in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. To do this, at your C:\ DOS Prompt (the drive where your computer boots from), type "edit autoexec.bat" then [Enter]. Look to see if the following line (and size) is included (after MOUSE and before WIN): SHARE /F:5024 /L:200 If SHARE comes after the WIN command, move the cursor to the position in front of the W of WIN, press [Enter], then type in: "SHARE /F:5024 /L200". Delete the occurrence of SHARE after WIN. Go to File, Exit, Save. For more information about SHARE, refer to your DOS manual. When you reboot changes will not take effect. INSTALLING CAC: --------------- (1) Installing from Disks (2) Installing from TEMP directory - CAC was downloaded 1&2 Instructions apply to both (1) and (2). WINDOWS INSTALLATION: at PROGRAM MANAGER, go to FILE, RUN, then: ---------------------------------------------------------------- (l) Type "A:SETUP" or "B:SETUP" and press [Enter]. Follow instructions. Leave Disk 2 in until you Exit REAME.TXT (2) Type "C:\TEMP\SETUP" (substitute your drive/directory name) Press [Enter]. Follow instructions. [3. Reboot?] 1&2 See ICON CREATION below. See ICON CREATION below to install the CAC icon. Reboot your computer. Start CAC by double-clicking the CAC icon. ICON CREATION: -------------- At WINDOWS Program Manager, choose FILE, NEW, Program, Item, OK. Description: College Aid Calculator; Command Line: c:\col_aid\cac.bat; Working Directory: C:\col_aid. Press OK, CHANGE ICON, Browse--go to the COL_AID directory double click on COL_AID.ICO, OK, OK. Done DOS INSTALLATION (if you don't have WINDOWS or memory is low.) ---------------------------------------------------------------- (1) At your C:\ or D:\ prompt, type A: or B: and press [Enter]. Insert Disk #l into your drive, type "SETUP" press [Enter]. Follow instructions. Leave Disk 2 in until you Exit REAME.TXT (2) Copy all of the CAC files to a TEMP directory. To do this: At C:\ type MD\TEMP and press [Enter]. Copy or download all CAC files to this directory. To Copy: Insert Disk 1 into the A: drive, type "COPY *.* C:\TEMP" Press [Enter] -- Repeat the above process for Disk 2. At your C:\ prompt, type "CD\TEMP" and Press [Enter]. Next type "SETUP" and press [Enter]. Follow instructions. 1&2 Reboot your computer. At your C:\ DOS prompt: Start CAC by typing "CD\COL\AID" and pressing [Enter], Type "CAC" and press [Enter] CAC NAVIGATION INSTRUCTIONS --------------------------- For a brief explanation of navigating within CAC, choose HELP at CAC's Main Menu or HELP from CAC's SELECT Menu. For detailed HELP on all the various working of CAC, COACH--COllege Aid Calculator Helper (our tutorial) should be reviewed. See COACH below. STRATEGIES TO REDUCE COLLEGE COSTS ---------------------------------- Our electronic book--can be found in the COL_AID directory. STRATEGIES... has been written in Rich Text Format (RTF)--a Microsoft standard, which may be read by Microsoft Word and many other word processors. Start your word processor, Choose File, Open, File Type: RTF or Rich Text Format, select the C:\COL_AID directory and the strats21.rtf file. Proceed as instructed. If your word processor is not able to read the strats21.rtf file, you may use your word processor's ascii file reader to open the strats21.txt file instead. This format does not retain all of the formatting codes that RTF handles, such as Font sizes, Bold, Underline and Italics. COACH ----- Our tutorial (COllege Aid Calculator Helper) is also included in the COL_AID directory--coach20.rtf and coach20.txt. Installation instructions are the same as for STRATEGIES above. COACH contains navigational instructions and a step-by-step tour of CAC. Also included are commentary about the seven sets of sample data already entered into CAC--and a glossary. TROUBLESHOOTING, TECHNICAL DETAILS ---------------------------------- If CAC takes much more than 45 seconds to load on your old 386, read below. If problems arise, and all else fails, please see the following instructions. Additions, updates or modifications to this notice are available on our Web home page. (address below) CAC WILL NOT BOOT. ------------------ 1. Did you reboot your computer after installing 2. SETUP error: "Error reading drive A" - Keep pressing "Retry." Disk drive may need cleaning - disk may be defective. 3. Fatal Error 1307 ... Not enough memory - read next item. Using a drive other than C:\ or a STACKED / DOUBLED drive: ---------------------------------------------------------- CAC may not like running on a compressed drive or a drive other than C:\. However, it could work out. In order to run on a drive other than C:, the a4.vmc file may need to be edited. If line 4 of this file says Swapfile = C: and you are did not install CAC on C:\, use an ASCII editor (Windows Notepad or the DOS Edit command) to change this drive designation to the one being used. OPTIMIZING MEMORY: ------------------ Once changes have been made to AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS [as explained above], [you can] use your computer's memory management program to optimize your computer memory. The DOS 6 program that does this is MEMMAKER. (If you are using QEMM or another such program, refer to your user manual.) For MEMMAKER, the process is easy. At the DOS prompt, type: MEMMAKER then press ENTER. Follow the instructions on the screen. "Express Setup" should be just fine. Optimizing memory should cause your programs to run faster and/or more reliably. Read about MEMMAKER in your DOS 6 manual. Slow performance ... boot-up taking a long time: ------------------------------------------------ You may need to do some computer house-cleaning. When was the last time you defragmented your hard drive? Are there old programs or program fragments clogging your disk? Once your disk is clean and organized, you should speed along. Using a 386? You may also want to look into one of those 486 speed doubling chips and a math co-processor. Both would improve performance. Unless you have a special way that you are already using to defragment your hard disk, you may want to utilize the DOS command DEFRAG to handle this job. The process is easy, and can make your various programs (especially CAC) run faster. At the DOS prompt, type: DEFRAG and press ENTER. Select your hard drive letter and press ENTER. Follow instructions ... Press F1 for Help. Read your DOS manual for more information. Math co-processor ----------------- When you installed CAC, you were asked if you would be running under Windows. If so, CAC searched to see if you had a math co-processor. If not, CAC installed a virtual math co-processor. If you installed CAC under DOS and answered "no" to the "Will you be running CAC under Windows" question, and later decide you want to run under Windows, go to the Program Manager, select Run (type SYSEDIT), click on system.ini, go to the [386Enh] section and insert the line DEVICE=C:\COL_AID\WEMU387.386 and Exit, Save and reboot your computer. Now you may run under Windows. WINDOWS Memory Settings ----------------------- Go to Program Manager - open the Control Panel, then open Enhanced, then Virtual Memory. A Swapfile Setting Size of at least 10,000 is usually OK, nearer to 25,000 is best. Click on Change, and enter a New Size. Swapfile type should be set to Permanent (click on the far right side of the Type down arrow to change). Cache size of 512 KB is recommended Choose "32 Bit Disk Access" if allowed on your computer. "32 bit File Access" may not be a good choice. After making changes click on OK and reboot as instructed. Read your WINDOWS manual for more information. WINDOWS 3.x CRASH: ------------------ If CAC just disappears ... is gone ... and in a flash, you see a screen full of EEEEs and #s, the word granular and addresses ... suddenly you find yourself back at the Windows Program Manager or whatever program is next behind CAC, you have most likely experienced a memory conflict. CAC is sometimes a brat. It likes to be first. Most likely, if this occurs, you will have had more than one program running at the same time under WINDOWS, and CAC and one of the others simultaneously attempted to utilize the same memory address. Restart your computer. Then let CAC be first. This (and adjusting Windows Memory per above) should work. WINDOWS '95 CRASH: ------------------ Right click on the program icon; Select Properties from the pop up menu. Click on the Memory tab. DOS Protected Mode (DPMI) memory should be 8192. 386MAX on a Monochrome or CGA Monitor ------------------------------------- You need to add this statement to the device line in your CONFIG.SYS file: "EXCLUDE A000-B000" QEMM on a Monochrome or CGA Monitor ------------------------------------ You need to add this statement to the device line in your CONFIG.SYS file: "NOVIDEOFILL" PROBLEMS NOT SOLVED BY THE ABOVE? --------------------------------- If you experience a different kind of installation problem, and solve it, please let us know what you did. We'll update this file at our World Wide Web site -address below. Thank you. Please provide us with some feedback ------------------------------------- We want to make CAC be all you need it to be - press Q from CAC's Main Menu to access the Questionnaire. Thanks. Deleting CAC from your hard drive. ---------------------------------- If during installation, you told CAC that you would be running CAC within Windows (and your computer does not have a math co-processor)--and later you delete CAC, an error message will appear when you reboot Windows. Just press ENTER to continue. To eliminate the message (which harms nothing), go to Program Manager, Run, type SYSEDIT, click on system.ini, at the [386Enh] section delete the line: DEVICE=C:\COL_AID\WEMU387.386. DISCLAIMER ---------- Formulas from the CSS/Financial Aid PROFILE-Institutional Methodology 1996-97 Computation Specifications are used in this application with permission of the College Board. (c) 1995 by the College Entrance Examination Board. All rights reserved. The College Board has not reviewed, and assumes no responsibility for the accuracy of either the programming or the results in this application. Think Ahead, Inc. and Bob Fesler, Jr., author of College Aid Calculator have made a sincere effort to achieve accuracy. However, be advised, you, (not us) are responsible for your own date entry and thereafter for how you utilize the data produced. CAC is a tool for testing your strategies. When in doubt, consult your favorite advisor on what to do next. Good luck. Bob Fesler, Jr., Author, PO Box 5G, Dresden, ME 04342 CollegeAid@maine.com VoiceMail: 1-207-737-2802 http://www.maine.com/collegeaid