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ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ DON'T MISS IT!!!
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This is Vol. 2 of our e-mail newsletter ***INSYNC***
Aÿ monthly information source on "Windows Tips and Tricks,"
brought to you by Syncronys Softcorp.
syncronys.com
Every month we will be bringing you short articles and
hot tips and tricks on how to achieve maximum performance
from your hard drive. If you would like to see previous
issues of INSYNC please go to:
syncronys.com
Thank you, and we hope you enjoy INSYNC.
============================================================
INSYNC January '98 - Volume 2ÿ
IN THIS ISSUE:
--ÿ Zip, Zip And Away
--ÿ VSM: The Future of File Systems
--ÿ Hot Tips and Tricks
--ÿ Sydney Answers Your Questions
--ÿ SPECIAL OFFER -- YOU WON'T WANT TO MISS THIS!
--ÿ Syncronys Product Tips -- BigDisk
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ZIP, ZIP AND AWAY
It copies information faster than a speeding floppy. It
holds big PowerPoint presentations along with a Windows
operating system and your favorite videos! It fits into
your pocket! It's your Zip disk!ÿ A true superhero of a
product.
What is a Zip disk? A Zip disk is to a floppy disk what
a Mack truck is to a skateboard: it contains 100 megabytes
of information (the equivalent of 70 floppy disks). And a
Zip disk is the same size as a floppy, just slightly
thicker. Although Zip disks cost more than floppies
(from $12 to $15 each), you'd spend a lot more money if you
bought 100 megabytes' worth of floppies!
Having a Zip Drive is like adding extra space to your hard
drive. Each Zip disk gives you unlimited storage capacity.
As soon as one is filled you can put in another.ÿ Pop
different Zip disks in depending on what is on them.
You can keep your desktop publishing files and programs on
one disk, and Internet files and graphics on another.
Zip disks are not only good for storage; but they can also
quickly load programs. Store your Internet files, which
can take up valuable disk space and require loading time.
If you have kids, you can give them their own disks for
their games and programs. The flexibility afforded by Zip
disks make it easy to add video, photos, and audio to your
presentations - transfer your large multimedia program from
your desktop computer to your laptop. Since Zip drives
operate at hard drive speeds, copying and transferring
information 20 times faster than your floppy drive, your
animations and film clips will run without embarrassing
delays. And if you're installing games from CDs, install
them on the Zip drive instead of your hard drive. You'll
save space on your hard drives, and your games will run
just as fast.
Of course, you do need a Zip Drive to run your Zip disks
Zip Drives are available for Windows, DOS, and Mac systems
and can be installed internally or externally. The cost is
between $90 and $120.00.ÿ External drives are the most
popular. It's no wonder - Zip's parent company Iomega found
that most of the thousands of home computer owners it
surveyed didn't want to open their computers to add anything
to them. To use the "portable" external drive, all you have
to do is plug it into the printer port and plug the printer
cable back into the Zip Drive. It's easy. Of course some
folks may prefer an internal Zip drive, which mounts in a
3/4-inch computer bay. It uses a SCSI-card connection, which
is included with the drive; if a SCSI device is already
installed, the drive operates with existing hardware as part
of the SCSI chain. Your Zip disk superhero will help you
clear your desk of those pesky little floppies, and for
the mobile population you can always just drop a Zip in
your pocket.
===========================================================
VSM: THE FUTURE OF FILE SYSTEMS
If we look back over the last decade, Windows file systems
have not evolved much.ÿ Perhaps the greatest advancement
from a user perspective has been the simple introduction of
long file names.ÿ NTFS under NT with its added security
features is relatively new and FAT 32 with better support
for large drives is new.ÿ However, fundamentally PC based
files systems have changed little since DOS 2.0 when
hierarchical directories were added. Does this mean that
we are nearing the end of evolution for PC file storage?ÿ
Is there room for improvement?
Let us consider a couple of the frustrations with the
current state of Windows file systems.
Windows file storage is unsafe.ÿ The greatest nightmare of
any computer user is loss of their important files.ÿ Many
people have multiple storage devices, yet the system is not
smart enough to back up important information on alternate
devices.ÿ Further, if you corrupt a file there is no general
way of going back to a previous version.ÿ Regular backups
is the standard solution yet most people don't have the time
to perform them on their workstations.ÿ Even then they lose
any work since their last backup. Expensive RAID array hardwareÿ
exist for high end servers but this is impractical for most
workstations and doesn't solve the problem of going back to a
previous version if corruption occurs.
Windows file storage is inflexible.ÿ After you add additional
storage devices to your system because you're out of disk space
you continue to get 'out of disk space' errors.ÿ This is
because DOS takes a very simple physical approach to file
storage.ÿ Just because you have physical space on one drive
that space is not available on another drive.ÿ Windows is not
intelligent enough to recognize where space is available
and spare the user from the pain of guessing which files
to move and hope not to break their applications.
Fortunately, there is help on the way.ÿ Windows has an open
architecture and is extensible.ÿ By adding intelligent
Virtual Storage Managementÿ (VSM) over the current physical
storage system these and many other frustrations can be
handled automatically by the system.ÿ With VSM the future
of intelligent file systems looks extremely bright.
The first VSM product to appear is Syncronys' BigDisk. This
product was just recently introduced and has received
accolades from it's initial users.ÿ With BigDisk, users no
longer have to worry about balancing space betweem their
drives.ÿ As applications are installed or files created on
the system drive they are automatically placed where space
is available.ÿ If you haven't already tried it check out
the free download at syncronys.com
The opportunities for improving the intelligence of your
PC's file systems are abundant.ÿ You can expect to see a
number of VSM solutions coming from Syncronys in the near
future.ÿ If you have an idea of how your PC's file system
could be made more intelligent please email me at
visionary@syncronys.com.
===========================================================
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Set up or reconfigure systems in minutes.ÿ Pre-load
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for downloading to clients.ÿ Clone hard drives within or
across PCs. ImageCast dramatically reduces the time
required to set up or reconfigure PCs on your network
ÿÿÿÿÿ The Fastest Way to Setup and Configure PCs
################## Across a Network! ######################
===========================================================
MONTHLY HOT TIP -- DON'T DELETE: UNINSTALL
Got an urge to delete a program from your hard disk by
dragging the file to the Recycle Bin? If you want to make
a clean break from the program, resist the temptation.
The most efficient way to get rid of an installed program
is with Windows 95's Add/Remove Programs tool,
which updates the Registry while it removes files, and
also delet stubborn installations,
you may need a third-party utility such as Quarterdeck's
CleanSweep or MicroHelp's Uninstaller 4.
===========================================================
SYDNEY ANSWERS YOUR QUESTIONS
-- What do I do if the Performance tab under my System
Control Panel indicates that I am not in 32-bit mode, but
rather in '16-bit' or 'MS-DOS compatibility mode'?
This problem is not critical, but it can certainly affect
hard disk performance.ÿ This can be due to a few
things - but usually it is because the hard disk driver
is having a problem, and therefore Windows doesn't know
how to communicate with your hard disk optimally.
Inspect your Device Manager settings (under Control Panel,
System, Device Manager).ÿ If you have an IDE system, it
would be under Hard Disk Controllers.ÿ If you're using
SCSI, it will be under SCSI Adapters.ÿ Expand them, and
notice whether Windows is detecting any sort of problem
or not, usually indicated by a yellow exclamation mark
or a red X over the device name.ÿ Viewing the Properties
of this device will provide more information as to why
there is a problem, and sometime even the Hardware
Troubleshooter may resolve the problem.ÿ Sometimes,
everything will appear OK, and no problems on your hard
disk driver will be reported - but be careful, it may be
because Windows is using a generic driver that is not
optimized for your system.ÿ So, the problem is usually
that the driver is:
1.) Not the correct one,
2.) Outdated
3.) Not installed.ÿ
For all of these, the answer is to go to the hardware
manufacturer of your hard disk controller, download an
updated driver, and follow it's installation instructions.ÿ
This can be difficult to find for brand-name machines,
since it's not always clear what kind of controller is
in the system, and a disk containing the driver may not
have been included. Often, if the controller was included
with the system, the proper hard disk driver was
pre-installed - but if you're experiencing this problem,ÿ
you'll need to get the right driver and get ite is an error
anywhere in the process, the last step won't be performed,
and your file will still be on the original drive.ÿ To
completely ensure that there can be no problems, BigDisk
has an option to Verify it's operations - this is a
protective feature that actually inspects that the file has
truly been written correctly to the destination drive before
deleting the source file.ÿ This can be an added reassurance
that your files will be safe no matter what happens during a
transfer.
-- Can BigDisk take a single drive that has been partitioned
and "reunite" all the partitions with my C: drive?
Absolutely.ÿ BigDisk does not require drives to be on
physically separate hard drives.ÿ In fact, BigDisk combines
drives at the logical level, so ANY combination of
partitions can be joined.ÿ They can even differ in cluster
size, and format (FAT32, FAT16, etc.).
Send queries to insync@syncronys.comÿ We will happily
answer all questions :-)
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