 The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group Members' Tips 'n Tricks Ron Taylor |
Hello members, this is your page. An opportunity to gain some new ideas, and pass on some of those helpful little tips that you have been keeping all to yourself.
We would like to share your tips, hints, do's, dont's, short stories of how/what you use a favourite program for, simple little batch files, hardware, software, shareware, debug scripts, techo, not-so-techo, even humorous and entertaining experiences.
With a membership currently well over 6,000 and growing, there is a lot of knowledge out there. Much of which can help make our use of these silicon monsters a little bit more bearable, maybe even enjoyable!
To start off I have put together a couple of my own plus a neat little batch file swapper contributed by member Alistair Lloyd. Enjoy!
QEdit in LIST
by Ron Taylor
The file viewing program LIST and the text editor QEdit must surely be the two most widely used shareware titles in the world. Both are very small, fast, easy to use but, most importantly, can be configured to suit you, the user.
List has the ability to edit a file from its files picklist, just by pressing the "E" key on the filename, the default editor name EDIT used to invoke the MS-DOS EDIT.COM.
To change LIST to use QEdit as the default editor is very simple. The best method is to use the DOS DEBUG utility to permanently alter the name EDIT in the LIST.COM file. Make sure LIST.COM and DEBUG.EXE are in the same directory and enter as shown below from the DOS prompt (press Enter after each line):
DEBUG LIST.COM
E 0175 "Q.EXE"
W
Q
And to invoke LIST from within QEdit is just as simple, edit your QCONFIG.DAT file and assign the following commands to any available key combination. I have used the F12 key in this example.
F12 MacroBegin Dos 'list' Return
Save the qconfig.dat file and "burn" it in to QEdit using the "Keys" option in the QCONFIG.EXE program. Both of these programs are available from the User Group shareware library.
Safe Defragmenter Swap
by Alistair Lloyd
I did it twice before I realised what I was doing wrong. I had a copy of Norton Speed Disk to defragment my 130 MB hard drive. It worked beautifully. A nice
file-unfragmenter and space clean up inside 5 minutes.
Then I went to run Windows. Missing! 476 lost clusters in the same number of chains. It took me a while to realise what the problem was.
With memories of Arthur Dent getting planning information from his local council in "Hitch Hikers...", I found what I was after at the end of Chapter 15, page 618, paragraph 8, headed "Cannot run disk compaction program". SMARTDRV had forgotten where I'd put Windows. Well, not entirely true. SMARTDRV knew where Windows had been, but Speed Disk had moved the files while its eyes were closed.
The problem now was that whenever I booted my PC, SMARTDRV would install, and I couldn't defragment the disk. To get around this, I developed a small batch to "flip-flop" between my normal CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files, and a relatively "empty" set. I set the "empty" ones, "Minimal config files" as shown.
C:\AUTOEXEC.NIL
prompt $p$g
path c:\;c:\dos
C:\CONFIG.NIL
files=30
buffers=10
To save the task of manually copying files back and forth, I created a batch file, SWAPAUTO.BAT, which lives in the root directory.
C:\SWAPAUTO.BAT
@echo off
cd c:\
if exist \autoexec.swa goto swapback
rem Swap in "empty" files...
rem \autoexec.bat autoexec.swa
ren \autoexec.nil autoexec.bat
ren \config.sys config.swa
ren \config.nil config.sys
echo. System is now configured MINIMAL..
echo. You may safely defragment the Disk
echo.
goto end
:swapback
REM Swap in "normal" files...
ren \autoexec.bat autoexec.nil
ren \autoexec.swa autoexec.bat
ren \config.sys config.nil
ren \config.swa config.sys
echo. System is now configured NORMAL..
echo. DO NOT defragment the Hard Disk
echo.
:end
echo You may now reboot your computer.
echo. Use CTRL+ALT+DEL
echo.
SWAPAUTO will not delete or move any files, but will check for the renamed "normal" files, and swap them back into service if they exist. Otherwise, it will rename the current CONFIG and AUTOEXEC files with a .SWA extension and rename the "empty" files to .SYS and .BAT.
While the latest Norton Utilities and MS-DOS may be "cache aware", this method helps to guarantee the safety of data on any PC using earlier versions.
DIY Hardware Care
by Ron Taylor
With the abundance of spare parts and upgrade components readily available these days, it is very easy to save a lot of money if you "do it yourself'.
With a little care and by following the instructions even the novice can install, for example, that new disk drive or sound card. Usually the only tool required is a screwdriver. This is where the "care" comes in.
Many screwdrivers available these days have magnetic tips, very handy for holding the screw in place when you are trying to insert it in a confined space. But beware, magnets are very dangerous around expensive computer innards!
It is much safer to use non-magnetic screwdrivers, but how do you hold the screw? Its no trick really; just use a small dab of petroleum jelly on the tip and off you go. Do not forget to touch an unpainted metal section of the PC before you start, to discharge any static electricity in your body. Happy upgrading.
Save your Memories
by Ron Taylor
One of the handiest utilities in DOS 5 and above is the MEM command, giving you a summary of programs loaded and the status of all memory available at any time from the DOS prompt.
Installing new software or hardware can make significant changes to both the memory available
and the major configuration files that the PC uses. I prefer to save this information for reference, using two files, one for the "old" or last start up, filename M0, and one for the "new" current data, named
M1.
Add the following lines from the listing to the end of your AUTOEXEC.BAT file, just before the last startup program is loaded. The data will be created and saved automatically every time you start your computer. I use the shareware DOS enhancer 4DOS v5, available from Melb PC, be sure to use the version applicable to your command processor.
rem ** using 4DOS.COM
SWAPPING OFF
COPY MO MI >NUL
ECHO %_DOW $ DATE %_TIME > MO
SWAPPING ON
C:\DOS\MEM /c >> MO
COPY M0+AUTOEXEC.BAT+CONFIG.SYS >NUL
rem Add the following line if you use Windows
COPY M0+C:\WIN\WIN.INI+C:\WIN\SYSTEM.INI >NUL
rem ** using COMMAND.COM
COPY M0 Ml >NUL
C:\DOS\MEM /c > M0
COPY M0+AUTOEXEC.BAT+CONFIG.SYS >NUL
rem Add the following line if you use Windows
COPY MO+C:\WIN\WIN.INI+C:\WIN\SYSTEM.INI >NUL
If you found something interesting or helpful and would like this series to continue, either mail your contributions to the Head Office, marked "Hints & Tips", or post in message form to me on our BBS, in the Private Area.
Reprinted from the March 1994 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia
