Big Blue Disk 43/bbd43.zip/DISKOVER.TXT

Text File | 1990-03-20 | 6KB | 115 lines

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|A║ ^0First Things First |A║═════════════ ^1Diskovery |A════════════║ ^0First Things First |A║
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^Cby
^CBob Napp

    Don't worry, we did not make a mistake.  This month, ^1Big Blue Disk #43^0,
 provides a special treat!  For the past few issues, we have been highlighting
 various commercial software products by including limited function "demos" in
 Big Blue Disk.  Your response has been so positive, we thought we would extend
 our ^1Try Before You Buy^0 section this month to include even more software.
 The additional disk most of you have received was provided to handle this
 increased content.  We hope you enjoy examining the Simply Ingenious, TRACON,
 and Electric Crayon demos.

    With all the excitement surrounding the bonus disk,  I almost forgot about
 this month's feature!  Personal Calc, a full-function spreadsheet, helps put
 numbers to work for you.  Due to the amount of documentation associated with
 this program, I decided to try something new.  The text has been separated
 into several sections with access provided from the Main Menu.  Before you
 run the program, I suggest you read "Getting Started".  It should provide
 sufficient information to ease you into the program.  We have also included
 several quick reference sheets (Menu and Function) that can be printed
 for easy access of information.  Please, let me know what you think about this
 method of presenting program documentation.

    A few issues ago, in BBD #41, we published a program called PC-M.D.
 This program, a database application, allows you to track your family's
 medical history and produce various reports for insurance and income tax
 purposes.  A database is an organized collection of information structured
 for fast access.  As a program of this sort, PC-M.D. retrieves information
 from numerous files.  Unfortunately, PC/MS-DOS does not initially provide
 enough resources to handle all the files PC-M.D. uses.  There is an easy
 way to fix this problem, but before we discuss that let's examine the
 initialization process your computer goes through when first started.

    When you first turn your computer on, the system goes through a process
 called "Booting Up".  The "Boot Up" procedure includes system hardware
 testing, loading of the operating system into memory (IO.SYS and MSDOS.SYS),
 and starting COMMAND.COM which interprets the commands you enter at the DOS
 prompt.  Before COMMAND.COM is started, the computer looks for a file in the
 root directory of your PC/MS-DOS boot disk called CONFIG.SYS.  This file
 provides information that is used to enhance the capabilities of your
 computer system.  A typical CONFIG.SYS might have the following contents:

^CFILES=20        ^N
^CBUFFERS=20      ^N
^CDEVICE=MOUSE.SYS^N
^CBREAK ON        ^N

    So that you can run PC-M.D. and similar programs, you must have a
 CONFIG.SYS file that contains, at least, the first two lines of the previous
 example.  If you use BLUELINE EDITOR, creating/updating the CONFIG.SYS file is
 a snap.  Simply select BLUELINE EDITOR from the Big Blue Disk menu and follow
 the instructions for the type of computer system you have.


 ^1SINGLE FLOPPY DISK USERS^0

    Once the editor has started, remove Big Blue Disk from your floppy drive
 and insert your boot disk.  At the "File to Load" prompt, type CONFIG.SYS.
 Either the file already exists and will be loaded into the editor or you
 will be prompted whether or not CONFIG.SYS should be created.  The first
 two lines of the CONFIG.SYS file should contain the following:

^CFILES=20  ^N
^CBUFFERS=20^N

 Once this information has been entered, press <F4> to save the file to disk.
 Remove your boot disk from the floppy drive, reinsert Big Blue Disk, and
 press <F10> to exit the BLUELINE EDITOR.


 ^1DUAL FLOPPY DISK USERS^0

    NOTE: We recommend that BBD users on dual floppy disk systems keep
          their DOS boot disk in drive A and run BBD from their B drive.
          The following instructions are based on that arrangement.

    Once the editor has started, type A:\CONFIG.SYS at the "File to Load"
 prompt.  Either the file already exists and will be loaded into the editor or
 you will be prompted whether or not A:\CONFIG.SYS should be created.  The
 first two lines of the CONFIG.SYS file should contain the following:

^CFILES=20  ^N
^CBUFFERS=20^N

 Once this information has been entered, press <F4> to save the file and <F10>
 to exit the BLUELINE EDITOR.


 ^1HARD DISK USERS^0

    Once the editor has started, type C:\CONFIG.SYS at the "File to Load"
 prompt.  Either the file already exists and will be loaded into the editor or
 you will be prompted whether or not C:\CONFIG.SYS should be created.  The
 first two lines of the CONFIG.SYS file should contain the following:

^CFILES=20  ^N
^CBUFFERS=20^N

 Once this information has been entered, press <F4> to save the file and <F10>
 to exit the BLUELINE EDITOR.


 ^1FINAL NOTES^0

    Before your computer will recognize the changes you have requested, you
 will need to reboot your system.  I hope that you find the information I have
 provided useful.  If you have any concerns, I strongly urge you to consult
 your DOS manual or talk to your local computer salesman.


^CHave a great month and keep sending those cards and letters!