home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
Text File | 1996-03-20 | 13.9 KB | 305 lines | [TEXT/hscd] |
- 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
-