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Pastimes : Computer Learning -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: H Peterson who wrote (1567)	1/16/1999 11:56:00 AM
From: wily	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 110652

>>1. How do you partion the hard drive into more than one drive, and is this recommended? I definitely think it's a good idea to have more than one drive, even if they are on the same disk. You can use the second drive to backup your files or even do a complete drive-image so that if Windows gets corrupted you have everything right there for hi-speed transfer after a re-format. Of course there are alternatives, like the HP restore CD that was mentioned a few posts back, or a trouble-shooter like Norton Utilities. But IMO a re-format is a great trump-card to have in the Windows game. (And even more important, it's a lot of fun <g> There's just something special about typing in responses to the command prompts on the dark DOS screen and thus altering something fundamental about your computer's configuration) (fundamental by my neophite standards). Regarding: How do you do it? It is a bad time to do it once the OS is installed because partitioning erases everything on the disk (as opposed to formatting which only erases the specific drive you are formatting). OTOH, it's a good time to do it before you get a lot of other stuff on board. But OTTH (On the third hand) there is another way: Power Quest makes software applications for drive configuration, etc. One of these is called Partition Magic which lets you re-size and configure your drives "on-the-fly", i.e. leaving your existing files intact. I heard about it on the "Dream Machine" thread. I just ordered "Lost and Found" by the same company, which lets you "unformat" a drive that was mistakenly erased (yes I did that--now I use volume labels <g>), but I don't have Partition Magic yet. Will soon, though. For about $70 (for PM) you can save yourself from having to start from scratch. OTOH, it teaches you a lot about your computer to go through the partition/format/install process, for those that want/got to know. I also don't know how easy PM would be to use for someone who's never done it the regular way. For part B: How to Partition your disk from scratch, I'll continue tomorrow unless someone (hopefully more qualified) fills in today. Dogs need to go to the park, snow piling up, house is a mess... wily

To: H Peterson who wrote (1567)	1/16/1999 12:09:00 PM
From: mr.mark	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 110652

i'm just going to weigh in on a couple topics that you've asked questions on, if that's okay with wily. and i just have bits of knowledge, as opposed to all the facts. :) first of all, congratulations! you are going to be rocking, man! "2. How do you import bookmarks or favorites into the new browsers which I will have to change to?" i've read that when changing machines, one way is to install the old hard drive in the new machine to move the apps from one to the other. i have no idea how. another way would be with storage media, like zip or jaz drives. and yet another way is with email. yes, email. drag and drop bookmarks into email to yourself and don't open the mail until you get the new machine running. :) "3. What Utility program do you recommend I get for Win 98? I have Norton Utilities now and am familiar with it." i'd advise staying with norton's. it's a given that some people will swear by it and others will really swear by it (as in cursing). i use it and know it has helped keep my system running sweet. be certain that you are running the most current version. utilities 3.0 is now been upgraded to 3.09 i believe. the most recent upgrade (available online, of course) fixes a problem some people were having with hanging when shutting the puter down. "5. I have MS office and Quicken on my computer now. The new computer will be coming with these same programs but a newer version. Will I be able to import the data from the old to the new?" this is pretty much the same question as #2. the process involves moving or copying, storage disks, or pulling the files off the old drive. also, here are a couple links that we've put up in here previously, that may be good resources for you and what you are endeavoring... conitech.com annoyances.org have fun and good luck. sorry i couldn't answer more, or better. :) mark

To: H Peterson who wrote (1567)	1/16/1999 12:48:00 PM
From: Doug Coughlan	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 110652

Here are some links that you can refer to for help with Windows 98 and other PC related questions. winmag.com wugnet.com winmag.com zdnet.com

To: H Peterson who wrote (1567)	1/16/1999 12:56:00 PM
From: Doug T.	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 110652

H Peterson, Did you ever think about a network? Linksys or a 3COM network kits for two computers will cost about $100 - 125. With a network you will be able to copy or run programs from either computer. This does take a few hours to set up Before you buy anything, be sure that PCI (32 bit) or ISA (16 bit) slots are available. Here are a few links that might help. home.att.net Subject 18946 To run two computers from one ISP, check out this software sygate.com Hope this helps, Doug

To: H Peterson who wrote (1567)	1/17/1999 9:03:00 PM
From: wily	Respond to of 110652

Part B: I've thought about this a lot and decided I really don't understand well enough what I'm doing to explain it to someone else. A lot of the things that worked for me were just good guesses. If it is something you want to persue, I would make a few suggestions: Get a spare HDD that you can experiment with and install it in your new or your old computer. If the stuff on the drive in your old computer isn't too precious, you could use that one. This would also give you an opportunity to transfer whatever to your new one. Only problem with this is I don't know how Win98 will like a second Windows OS showing up. You may have to change the name of the Windows directory in 3.1. Anyone help me here? Then once the old drive is installed as your second HDD, you can partition and format it, and add back anything to it that you backed up on your new HDD, and you could copy over to it the installation files for 3.1 or 98--whichever OS you want the old computer to run on. Installing a HDD and partitioning is not difficult, but it's best explained by experts. I also think a familiarity with DOS will make the goings on much more understandable. Most of my understanding I got from Mark Minasi's book, "Expert Guide To Windows 95". Two other references I have are Peter Norton's "Guide To Upgrading And Repairing PC's", and Tiley's "Windows 95 Unleashed" Here is a great on-line DOS manual: computerhope.com And finally I would add a tip about installing OS's. If the OS comes on a CD and you are doing a fresh install, i.e. your hard-drive is blank (actually, freshly formatted) then you need a way to access the files on the CD. You can boot to your Windows Startup Disk that comes with a Winows OS, but if you type in at the A-prompt: A:> D:\win98\setup you will get back: invalid drive, because the floppy won't see your CD-ROM. There's a special file you need on the floppy that doesn't come on the Start-up disk and it seems to be well-guarded by the comercial interests. That's all I've been able to deduce. I did get the store that sold me my present computer to give me a floppy with the necessary file. I tried to copy it over to my HDD for safe-keeping and further proliferation, but it wasn't to be copied--protected or whatever. So, the work-around I've found for this is to get your blank hard-drive into a working computer with CD-ROM and copy the OS installation files onto your blank HDD. Then install the HDD into the destination computer. THEN, when you boot to the start-up floppy, and you type at the A-prompt: A:> D:\Win98\Setup It will say Welcome... I might be able to add something about installing HDD's. However, I'm out of time for tonight. I hope this was at least a little helpful and you're not too disappointed. wily

To: H Peterson who wrote (1567)	1/17/1999 9:13:00 PM
From: wily	Respond to of 110652

PS Using fdisk to partition does erase EVERYTHING on a hard-disk. However, when you use the DOS "format" command you get the same warning that all the contents of the disk will be lost. That is not true. Only the contents of the particular virtual drive you are formatting will be erased. (And even then they can still be recovered with a special utility if they are not over-written) And don't forget about the existence of alternative partitioning utilities such as Partition Magic that let you alter and add to the partitions on your disk without losing their contents. $70 cheap. (Although, like I said before, I don't know how easy it would be for someone to use this software who has never done it the DOS way since I haven't used it yet) powerquest.com

To: H Peterson who wrote (1567)	1/17/1999 9:43:00 PM
From: wily	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 110652

Here's another link to some interesting partition information: users.intercom.com This page in particular explains in detail how a partition relates to the hard-disk: users.intercom.com

To: H Peterson who wrote (1567)	1/19/1999 3:11:00 AM
From: dfloydr	Respond to of 110652

A couple of answers for you: 1. Partition Magic is MAGIC. Easy and very informative. On a hard drive that size you might even partition it into three or four drives. Partition Magic will review your system and make recommendations to obtain the most efficient set up. The only problem I had was due to the fact that my new partitions were labeled drives D, E, and F. My CD-Rom had been identified as drive D. I forget how I renamed the CD-Rom, but since that was done the system worked perfectly. 2. I had a lot of trouble with my Win95 PC, some of which continued to Win98. Win 98 is much much better. What finally calmed my system down perfectly was Cybermedia's product called "First Aid". The program scans your system thoroughly and looks at all the relationships between your systems and files and checks out all the hardware. It then presents you with a report and tells you how to fix any problems, most of which you can fix by clicking on "Autofix". Since I installed First Aid I have had no problems.