                                             sharew.hlp
                                             Ben Blumenberg
                                             Reality Software
                                             P.O. Box 105
                                             Waldoboro, ME 04572
                                             May 2, 1992




    Decompressing and Enjoying Your Archived Shareware Package
            (For IBM PC's and clones with hard drives)


1. These instructions assume a familiarity with basic DOS
commands and procedures. If you do not have that knowledge, open
a good DOS book and practice the tutorial or find a friend who
can help.

2. Create a new directory on your hard drive (drive C) with an
appropriate title that is easy to remember.

3. Copy your shareware package, .zip or .arc file etc., to the
new directory. Don't delete the original compressed file in case
something should adversely effect the copy. Check to make certain
the copy process went OK. 

4. Put a copy of the decompressing tool in the new directory. In
the case of zipped files, this would be PKUNZIP.EXE.

5. At the DOS prompt of the new directory, or from within an
archiving shell, use the appropriate commands and decompress the
archived file. At the DOS prompt, enter PKUNZIP filename.zip.
The archived file will then decompress ('explode', 'uncrunch',
etc.), i.e. separate into its separate components - the
individual files that were compressed together. These files will
remain in the new directory. If you have acquired shareware that
was compressed by the arc process, your decompressing tool is
ARCE.COM not pkunzip.exe, and the command at the dos prompt has a
similiar syntax: arc filename.arc. An archiving utility, such
as Archiver or Shez, will not require you to be at the DOS prompt
of the new directory in order to decompress your shareware.

6. Some shareware comes in the form of self extracting files
which do not need a decompressing tool to separate. Their
filenames are usually flagged by an underline slash before the
extension which is often .exe or .com. In any case, the
information from the BBS or shareware company will identify such
files. Merely run them as you would any executive file and they
will decompress.

7. Keep a backup copy of your original shareware file on a
floppy. Print out a copy of the file list that emerged from
decompressing and note files such as readme. and those with
extensions such as .txt or .doc. These are text files which are
meant to be read before you begin to do anything. They will be
introductory documents, manuals and intstructions, etc. that are
essential to getting started. A file such as doc.bat is a batch
file that will allow you to view and often printout documents,
either to the screen or printer or both.

8.ENJOY!






 

