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Over 1,000 Windows 95 Programs
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Over 1000 Windows 95 Programs (Microforum) (Disc 1).iso
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0475
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readme.do_
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readme.do
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Text File
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1997-04-02
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9KB
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197 lines
Disk Image Management System (C)1996 by Tom Hall
================================================
Concept
=======
DIMS is a Windows application which allows you to create images of
your essential floppy disks and files and store them in an orderly
manner. You can create groups to keep related images together, give
long descriptive names to the images/groups and put a long description
embedded in each image. It is intended for archiving
essential/irreplaceable disks and files to your hard disk/network drive
where they may be easily backed up and shared with others.
ShareWare
=========
This program is ShareWare and this version (not the registered one) may
be freely distributed. You can tell which one you have by clicking
Help, About DIMS from the menu. If its says ShareWare it is, if it says
something else then its the registered version. If you downloaded the
registered version from somewhere I'd like to know about it. The
registered versions are individually serial numbered so I'll know who
has uploaded it.
Requirements
============
DIMS has been successfully run under Windows 3.1, Windows for
Workgroups 3.11 and Windows 95 both standalone and on a Novell NetWare
3.12 and 4.1 network without incident. It works fine with as little as
4MB of RAM. It will run on a network drive but is not at present a
network application so only one person can start a copy of DIMS at a
time although you can access the same images from different
workstations at different times. Unlike some software companies I
allow this and encourage it. You may install your copy of DIMS on as
many workstations as you want as long as they access the same database
on the server - i.e. You are only running one copy at any given time
because this version exclusively locks the database at startup. Note that
DIMS expects its database to live in the same place as its program files
so if you want to run it on a network you must install it first to a network
drive and then to each workstation. You must then point the icon on the
workstation back to the network. This step is necessary to get the DLLs
and VBXs onto each workstation. DIMS must have full rights in its
directory as it must be able to Read, Write, Create and Delete files for
proper operation. Contact me for more explicit details if you can't get it
to work.
Installation Instructions
=========================
Unzip the DISM097.ZIP file into a temporary directory on your hard drive
or to a floppy disk. Go into Windows and choose File, Run from Program
Manager, select SETUP.EXE from the temporary directory and click OK. Then
just follow the instructions.
By default the DIMS installation puts the following files in the indicated
places:
Location Files
-------- -----
C:\DIMS DIMS.EXE
README.DOC
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM VBRUN300.DLL
VBIO.DLL
VBASM.DLL
CMDIALOG.VBX
COMMDLG.DLL
Limitations
===========
The ShareWare version is limited to 10 groups of 10 images each.
Registering gets you the same software with the limitations removed to
500 groups of 100 images (50000 images total). No other features have
been disabled except for Find which has not yet been implemented.
Note that DIMS is written is Visual Basic and has been protected with
VBGuard to prevent decompiling.
Is anyone using it?
===================
Yes, of course I'm using it myself to keep over 100MB of disks and files
safely archived on the hard drive of my notebook. I'm a Novell CNE and
am always needing drivers and patches when I go to customer's sites. I
already had a briefcase with 12 boxes of 10 disks and a toolcase and
didn't want to get a third case to carry (I only have two arms) so I wrote
DIMS! Now my old briefcase gets to stay in the car a lot with disks I
don't need very often. The stuff I use all the time I have imaged onto the
notebook and just carry a box of blank disks in my notebook bag. When I
need something it only takes a minute to re-create it.
The other techs at the company I work for are also converting 400MB+
of Disk Factory files to DIMS (a special version of DIMS which can
directly read Disk Factory images is available if you ask when
registering).
Please Register
===============
Registration is only $30 (Canadian) or $25 US. For your $30 I will send
you a version of DIMS with the limitations as noted above removed. I
will also send you the next update for free which will have the searching
feature implemented to allow you to more easily find the specific image
you are looking for. If you're on the Internet and your mail server can
handle about a 0.5MB attachment then include your EMail address and I
will attempt to EMail the files to you. If this fails I will mail them by
regular snail mail.
Future version of DIMS will be made available to already registered
persons at a discounted price off the price of full registration to
encourage upgrading and reward registering.
Send $30 Canadian ($25 US) as a cheque or money order drawn on a
Canadian or US bank. Sorry but I cannot take credit cards. (Do NOT
send cash through the mail).
Send your payment to:
Tom Hall
315 Verdun Road
Oshawa, Ontario
L1H 5T1
Canada
Be sure to include your return address and your EMail address and let
me know whether you want me to attempt to EMail the files to you. If
you want I could EMail you notification of registration and post the files
by regular mail to you on a disk. Just let me know in your registration
letter how you want me to do it.
Bug Reports
===========
I welcome bug reports whether you have registered or not but please be
sure to tell me the complete circumstances of the bug. i.e. Complete
error message, what version of DIMS you were running, what you were
doing at the time, any other applications open, your version of DOS and
Windows, amount of RAM free (as reported by MEM), whether you are
on a network and what type and anything else you think would be
important. Also let me know if this is reproducible or randomly
occurring. If I can't get it to happen I don't stand much chance of fixing
it.
You can EMail me at "thall@idirect.com". Please put DIMS BUG
REPORT in the subject. I'll do my best to fix any bugs that show up.
There shouldn't be any significant ones left as I've been using DIMS
myself for 6 months now. If you feel something could be done better or
differently I'd be willing to entertain suggestions but I can't promise to
implement everything - I have a day job for now anyway :-)
Planned Enhancements/Things I'm Thinking About
==============================================
A configuration file to set Drive types and Image locations. Presently
you have to set the kinds of disk drives you have each time you go into
the software (DIMS assumes you have a 1.44MB Drive A: and no drive
B: by default).
Compression of image files to save on disk space. All the hooks are in
the code and image format and I'm working on a compression DLL right
now. Should be ready Real Soon Now!
DMF support. Microsoft's new Distribution Media Format that fits 1.68MB
onto a 1.44MB floppy disk. My BETA testers have been bugging me about
this ever since it came out.
A comprehensive HELP file. It doesn't have any help right now but its
pretty easy to use.
A multi-user networkable version. DIMS can be run from a network
drive as is but it locks the .LCK file when it starts so only one copy can
run at a time. This is by design.
Directory/file listing of an image so you can see what files are in a disk
image without extracting it.
Extracting a disk image into a directory on the hard drive. Good for
software that doesn't care if its actually on a disk to install.
WEB-style group and file listings rather than listboxes. I think that would
be cool.
Ability to link a URL into the DIMS database, sort of like a remote disk
image. So if you find something on the net you think would be useful in
the future you can paste the URL into DIMS, type/paste in the file
description and let DIMS remember where you saw that useful file and
possibly automatically retrieve it when you try to extract it.
DIMS Remote. I envision having the ability to have a main (large) image
database on the server and a selected subset of the images on my
notebook. I'd have all the groups, image names and descriptions but only
selected images. I can create images off-line and resynchronize when
I'm connected to the LAN. Would anyone else have a use for this??
Please note that some of these enhancements may be a long way off or
never see the light of day.
Thanks for your support.
Tom Hall
EOF