Rich's Ramblings
by Rich Schinnell
This issue, I'll just talk about a few of the things I've been doing besides enjoying my retirement. I received a copy of "Under a Killing Moon," an interactive movie that comes on four, yes that's four, CD-ROMs. A real neat game that has good video and audio. A triple speed or greater CD-ROM is a must. It is very similar to watching a movie with you getting involved. It is by Access Software, 1-800-800-4880, and costs around $59 locally. A 486 with 8MB and a CD-ROM and sound card are needed.
I see that most of the major programs are coming out on CD-ROM, and this is great; sure beats the heck out of the disk swapping, even with the high density diskettes from Microsoft and Windows95. They get almost 1.8MB on a diskette. The CD-ROMs are much easier to work with; spilled coffee and cat hairs don't seem to bother them as they do floppies. With the price of CD-ROM drives coming down to a real reasonable price (I have seen the single speeds below $100), everyone should order one for any new machine they purchase (I recommend that you get a Quad speed or a Triple at least). Installing things like WordPerfect 6.1 for Windows sure is easier and less likely to have errors from someone dropping a disk on the floor and running his chair rollers over it. Ruins your whole day. <G>
Another neat service that I have a brochure on is a company called Autotime. They will take your old SIMMs or SIPPs and turn them into the newer 72 pin SIMMs or higher meg 30 pin SIMMs, for a small fee. They claim to be able to convert four (4) 1MB 30 pin SIMMS into one 4MB 72 pin SIMM for $40 plus S/H of course. They'll also convert those old worthless 256K SIMMs into 1MB SIMMS for $18.50 per Megabyte. About half the price of new 1MB SIMMS, and it gets rid of those worthless 256K SIMMS that have been clogging up your drawers since you upgraded. Autotime's Internet address is info@autotime.com, or for the communications challenged, call voice at (503) 452-8577. I have not tried them, but it does seem to be cost effective. I remember when I worked at Vitro, we ended up with hundreds of old 256K SIMMs from PS-2s and older machines. I am sure that a price break can be gotten for larger quantities.
By the time you read this, I'd be willing to bet that the price of Pentiums will drop again. I bought a Pentium 90 on an Intel motherboard at one of the local computer shows for less than $900. 16MB of 72 pin SIMMs was $450, an Adaptec SCSI II PCI controller went for $249, and the Stealth 64 PCI video was about the same. I picked up a triple speed NEC CD-ROM at CompUSA for $299, a Gig hard drive for less than $500, and a cheap $57 Pro Audio 16 sound board. Now I need to save up for my 17" CTX monitor and I'll be mostly set, at least until the newer toys come out.
Speaking of computer shows, I have been to several lately and I find them exciting and crowded. There are some good prices, if you know what your buying. I bought some of those CD-ROM caddies for $3.50 each while CompUSA and Micro Center sell them for $9.95. A real savings in time and aggravation to have some spares to keep your CD-ROMs in. I find the computer shows have an overabundance of shareware sales tables, and there are CD-ROMs that are quite cheap . . . besides the cheap software upgrades. I bought the WordPerfect 6.1 Windows upgrade for $89 and some real Microsoft mice for $22 each. They were the older styles, but work great and are cheap. Complete systems are pretty cheap compared to local stores, but you get what you pay for. Most of the vendors at these shows are at each and every show that comes by. They do have phone numbers to call for help, but of course long distance. If you're a newbie, then I recommend a local show or get someone to help you pick out what you need. This way you can get the help when you need it.
Of course there is CPCUG's Build Your Own PC workshops and seminars. If you're going to purchase the parts, the Pre-Build seminar is worth your Saturday time investment. Charlie Dunbar and the Build Team really put on a worthwhile and professional seminar that will let you know the difference between IDE, EIDE, and the other multitudes of TLAs and FLAs (Three Letter Acronyms and Four Letter Acronyms). SIMM, SIPP, and DRAM are spelled out, and they will also tell you how not to get in trouble when you buy your components. Even though some manufacturers promote Plug-N-Play, configuring your own machine is not that easy for the non-techie, but you will get the straight scoop from the Pre-Build Seminar.
I think it is time again to remind you all, now that 1 GigaByte (that's 1,000 Megabytes) hard disks are below $500, to get a tape backup unit and use it. I know people who have over a Gigabyte of disk storage, and they don't have any backup method except floppies. This is a real shame and will lead to distressing help line calls, lots of gnashing of teeth, and caterwauling. Some grown men even get close to tears. <G>
I really don't have much sympathy for those who don't spend the small amount of money on a Colorado 250, at the very least. They are now below $150, and even though they are slow, like watching grass grow, to format and backup, they are worth the warm fuzzies that you will get when and if your computer tells you "Error Reading Drive C." Iomega and others make these small IDE 250MB (compressed) tape drives. Most will work off of your IDE floppy drive adapter cable, and some have their own interface boards. Any backup is better than none.
Of course I would like to caution you to make sure that you have a bootable system disk with your operating system for the A drive. While you're at it, copy the following necessary files to the diskette:
FORMAT.COM FDISK.EXE
Also copy all your tape backup and restore software. Having a copy of your tape backup software on floppy is the only way you will get the data restored from your backup tape since your hard disk version will be gone. And reinstalling the tape software from floppy to floppy might not be easy.
Remember also that whenever you put new gadgets into your PC, keep the documentation in a common place. Hard disks seem to want you to know the cylinders, heads, and sectors when your CMOS has been wiped out. And if you want to add another hard disk to your machine, you will need to know what jumpers to change on your hard drive to make the D drive the slave and the C drive the master with a slave attached. If all this is gobbledegook, then the bottom line is never throw away anything that you get with your adapter cards or devices in your computer. Put everything in a folder so that you can retrieve them when needed.
Rich Schinnell is the president of Capital PC, and is now retired from Vitro Corporation and the U.S. Navy. He does a bit of consulting but mostly enjoys his retirement. He spends some time each week helping the office staff with CPCUG matters. He is very active on the HelpLine and running his BBS. He can be reached at (301) 949-9292 evenings, on the CPCUG MIX BBS at (301) 738-9060, and the Internet at schinnel@cpcug.org.
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Capital PC User Group, Inc.
Plaza East Two
51 Monroe Street
Rockville, Maryland 20850
MIX BBS: (301) 762-9060 (10 Hayes v.34 modems)
Voice Response: (301) 762-6775
Office: (301) 762-9372