Prevent problems

To reduce your need for computer repairs, remember the following tips.

Hot weather

If possible, avoid using the computer in hot weather.

When the room’s temperature rises above 93 degrees, the fan inside the computer has trouble cooling the computer sufficiently. Wait until the weather is cooler (such as late at night), or buy an air conditioner, or buy a window fan to put on your desk and aim at the computer, or use the computer for just an hour at a time (so that the computer doesn’t have a chance to overheat).

Another problem in the summer is electrical brownouts, where air conditioners in your house or community consume so much electricity that not enough voltage gets to your computer.

Transporting your computer

Some parts inside the computer are delicate. Don’t bang or shake the computer!

If you need to move the computer to a different location, be gentle! And before moving the computer, make backups: copy everything important from the computer’s hard disk onto floppy disks. For example, copy all the documents, database files, and spreadsheets you created, and also copy AUTOEXEC.BAT, CONFIG.SYS, and COMMAND.COM.

Instead, try to carry the computer with you on the plane, if the computer’s small enough to fit under your seat or in the overhead bin. If the whole computer won’t fit, carry as much of the computer as will fit (the keyboard, the monitor, or the system unit?) and check the rest as baggage. If you must check the computer as baggage, use the original padded box that the computer came in, or else find a giant box and put lots and lots and lots of padding material in it.

When going through airport security, it’s okay to let the security guards X-ray your computer and disks. Do not carry the computer and disks in your hands as you go through the metal detector, since the magnetic field might erase your disks. For best results, just tell the guards you have a computer and disks; instead of running the computer and disks through detection equipment, the guards will inspect your stuff personally. To make sure your computer doesn’t contain a bomb, the guards might ask you to unscrew the computer or prove that it actually works. If your computer’s a laptop and you need to prove it works, make sure you brought your batteries — and make sure the batteries are fully charged!

Since airport rules about baggage and security continually change, ask your airport for details before taking a trip.

If your computer came with a SHIPDISK or PARK program, run it before you transport the computer. After your journey, when you turn the computer back on, the head automatically unparks itself and reads whatever data you wish.

If your computer did not come with a SHIPDISK or PARK program, don’t worry about it. Modern disk drives park the head automatically whenever you turn the power off. For older disk drives, handling the computer gently is more important than parking the head. In any case, do not borrow a SHIPDISK or PARK program from a friend, since somebody else’s program might assume the hard drive has a different number of tracks.

Repair shops use an extra-fancy PARK program: it tests the hard drive, determines how many tracks are on it, and then moves the head to the correct innermost track.

Saving your work

When you’re typing lots of info into a word-processing program or spreadsheet, the stuff you’ve typed is in the computer’s RAM. Every ten minutes, copy that info onto the hard disk, by giving the SAVE command. (To learn how to give the SAVE command, read my word-processing and spreadsheet chapters.)

That way, if the computer breaks down (or you make a boo-boo), the hard disk will contain a copy of most of your work, and you’ll need to retype at most ten minutes worth.

For example, if you accidentally wreck part of your document and then automatic timed backup kicks in, you’ve just replaced your good, saved document by a wrecked one, and the good one is gone forever. Give the SAVE command manually, so that you, not the computer, decides when and what to save.

Disk space

Make sure your hard disk isn’t full. Make sure your hard disk has at least 2 megabytes of unused space on it.

To find out how much unused space is on your hard disk, say:

C:\>dir

That makes the computer list the files in your root directory and also tell you how many bytes are free.

If the number of free bytes is less than 2,000,000, you have less than two megabytes of free space, and you’re in a dangerous situation! Erase some files, so that the number of free bytes becomes more than 2,000,000.

If the number of free bytes is less than 2,000,000, some of your programs might act unreliably, because the programmers who wrote those programs were too lazy to check whether the programs would work on a hard disk that’s so full. Some of those programs try to create temporary files on your hard disk; but if your hard disk is nearly full, the temporary files won’t fit, and so the computer will gripe at you, act nuts, and seem broken.

If possible, erase enough unimportant files from your hard disk so that 5 megabytes are free. That ensures even the biggest temporary files will fit. It also helps DOS act faster, since DOS doesn’t have to look so hard to find where your hard disk’s free megabytes are.

Overly fancy software

Avoid buying and using software that adds many lines to your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files. The longer and more complicated your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files are, the greater the chance that something will go wrong with them, and your computer will refuse to boot up. Even if each line in your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT file looks fine, the lines may conflict with each other.

Keep your AUTOEXEC.BAT file simple, so that when you turn the computer on, the computer says:

C:\>

Do not make the computer automatically go into Windows or the DOS shell or a menu. Instead, get in the habit of manually typing "win" to go into Windows, "dosshell" to go into the DOS shell, a command such as "menu" to go into a menu, or a command such as "do wp" to go into Word Perfect (by using the DO.BAT trick I explained on page 130).

If you make the mistake of setting up your computer to automatically go into Windows, and Windows someday stops working properly, the computer won’t boot at all. You’ll be in a real mess!

Also, if the computer automatically goes into Windows, and you try to use Windows as a menu system to choose which non-Windows software to run, that non-Windows software will run slower and less reliably than if you ran the software directly without going through Windows.

Judging from the phone calls I receive, I get the impression that 90% of all the people who use Stacker are happy, and the other 10% lose all their data.

DOS 6 headaches

Later, when you don’t seem to be using the computer and seem to be just scratching your head wondering what to do next, Smart Drive copies the disk cache’s contents to the hard disk. But what if you turn off the computer (or the computer’s hardware or software malfunctions) before Smart Drive gets around to copying the disk cache’s contents to the hard disk? Then the hard disk will contain less info than it’s supposed to. When you restart the computer, Double Space will notice that info is missing from the hard disk; then Double Space will get confused and refuse to operate. Suddenly, your whole hard disk has become useless!

Another problem is that when Smart Drive suddenly decides to burst into action and write to your hard disk, it can interrupt the computer from handling any modem or fax transmissions that are in progress. Also, Smart Drive confuses the typical human, who doesn’t understand why the hard-drive light goes on at strange times instead of when the human said to write to the hard disk.

To avoid those hassles, avoid using Double Space, Smart Drive, and Mem Maker. Then DOS 6 works great!

Software housecleaning

Here’s how to do software housecleaning in the three most popular operating-system environments: Windows 95, Windows 3.1, and DOS 6.2.

Windows 95 housecleaning

To make Windows 95 run better, you can use many methods. I’ll start with the methods that are the simplest and most foolproof, then progress to methods that are more advanced and risky. To get free help using these methods and my other tricks (which are more bizarre), phone me anytime at 617-666-2666.

If you have the patience, reboot the computer thoroughly, this way:

Click Start, then Shut Down, then Yes, then turn the power off. Wait for the computer to quiet down. Then turn the computer back on.

The rebooting helps, though you can skip it if you’re in a rush.

Next, get out of any programs you’re in (by clicking their X boxes). Close any windows that are open (by clicking their X boxes). Get rid of any buttons next to the Start button (by clicking any such button, then clicking the X box that comes up).

Although patterns, wallpaper, and screensavers are cute fun, you should delete them (by choosing "none") because they consume RAM, slow down the computer, distract the computer, distract you, and are unnecessary (since all modern monitors are built well and don’t need to be protected by screensavers).

Instead of choosing "640 by 480", you can choose higher numbers if your eyes are good and your screen is big and your video card has a reasonably large amount of RAM and your video drivers are correctly installed.

For a 15" screen, the most appropriate choice is " 800 by 600".

For a 17" screen, the most appropriate choice is "1024 by 768".

For a 19" screen, the most appropriate choice is "1280 by 1024".

But if you have a 15", 17", or 19" screen and the "appropriate choice" doesn’t work, drop down to 640 by 480, which always works though it’s less pleasant.

Click "OK". If the computer says "The computer will now resize your desktop", press ENTER, then wait for the screen to look different, then immediately click "Yes" (before the image goes away).

To discover your total amount of RAM, right-click the "My Computer" icon, then click "Properties" and read the message on the screen. (When you finish reading it, click its X box.)

If you’re sharing the computer with friends, ask their permission before emptying the Recycle Bin.

If you’re sure you don’t need any of those files anymore, empty the entire Recycle Bin (by clicking "File" then "Empty Recycle Bin"). If you want to erase just some of those files, click the first file you want to erase, then (while holding down the Ctrl key) click each additional file you want to erase, then press the DELETE key then ENTER.

Then close the Recycle Bin window (by clicking its X box).

(To delete a Windows 95 program you’re not using, click "Start" then "Settings" then "Control Panel", then double-click "Add/Remove Programs" then the program you want to delete, then follow the instructions on the screen.)

Finally, press ENTER, then close all windows (by clicking their X boxes).

If your computer is "clean" (not distracted by any extraneous tasks), the only tasks that should be on that task list are Explorer and maybe Systray.

Explorer is needed because it gives you the desktop picture. Systray is optional: it creates the sound-volume icon at the screen’s bottom-right corner, if your sound card is good enough to have its volume changed by software.

Giving a computer a long task list is like giving a juggler too many knives to juggle: he might quit or die.

I also get annoyed by magazines who tell readers to buy all sorts of fancy routines that are supposed to make your computer "better". Though each routine is fine by itself, when you try to run them all simultaneously they interfere with each other and create crashes.

Although you can end a task by clicking the task’s name and then the "End Task" button, that ends the task just temporarily. To end the task permanently, so it won’t resurface the next time you boot up the computer, follow some of the strategies listed below.…

On a clean machine (such as mine), the StartUp folder should be empty (so your task list stays short). Microsoft Office tends to put two items into the StartUp folder ("Microsoft Office Fast Start" and "Microsoft Office Find Fast Indexer"), but if you eliminate those two items Microsoft Office will still run fine.

Here’s how to remove items from the StartUp folder.…

Right-click the Start button (by using the mouse’s right-hand button), then click "Open", then double-click "Programs". You see a list of all folders that are in your Programs menu. (To see the list better, maximize its window.) Double-click "StartUp". You’ll see icons for all the programs in the StartUp folder.

To remove a program from the StartUp folder, click that program’s icon then press the DELETE key then ENTER. (To remove all programs from the StartUp folder, do this: tap the A key while holding down the Ctrl key, then press the DELETE key then ENTER.)

If you’re not sure whether to remove a program from the StartUp folder, go ahead and try it (after consulting with any friends who share your computer). Trying to remove a program from the StartUp folder is an experiment that’s safe for three reasons:

"Removing" an icon from the StartUp folder just sends the icon to the Recycle Bin, so you can restore the icon later if you change your mind. (To be extra-safe, tell your friends not to empty the Recycle Bin for several weeks, until you’re sure your newly emptied StartUp folder makes you happy.)

The icon you’re sending to the Recycle Bin is just a shortcut icon (since it has a bent arrow on it) rather than the program itself.

No items in the StartUp folder are ever needed to start Windows 95. In fact, Windows 95 starts itself up before it bothers to look at the StartUp folder.

When you’ve finished, close all windows (by clicking their X boxes).

Click "Start" then "Programs" then "MS-DOS Prompt". If you see a black window, make it fill the whole screen by doing this: while holding down the Alt key, tap the ENTER key. (If you mess up, press Alt with ENTER again.)

Now the whole screen is black (except for white writing on it).

The screen says:

C:\WINDOWS>

C:\>

C:\>ren autoexec.bat *.a

C:\>ren config.sys *.a

After you’ve renamed CONFIG.SYS to CONFIG.A, you can make one further improvement, if you have the patience. The improvement consists of typing this —

C:\>copy con config.sys

device=windows\himem.sys /testmem:off

device=windows\emm386.exe ram d=64

dos=high,umb

then pressing the F6 key (which creates the symbol "^Z") and then ENTER. That creates a 3-line CONFIG.SYS file, which is slightly better than having no CONFIG.SYS at all. The 3-liner increases the available RAM and also creates expanded memory.

Shut down the computer completely (by clicking "Start" then "Shut Down" then "Yes" then turning the power off). When the computer has quieted down, turn it back on and watch what happens.

Probably Windows 95 will start fine (faster and better!) because of the changes you made to CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT.

Though stripping CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT improves the performance of most computers, your computer might have "special needs". (In the old days, computers having "special needs" were called "handicapped", but I guess that’s not politically correct anymore.) For example, most Compaq computers have "special needs". (Here we go again, another slam at Compaq. But Compaq deserves it!) Such computers require some "special needs" lines in CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT.

If Windows refuses to start properly after you’ve fiddled with CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT, change them back. Here’s how:

Shut down the computer. (If possible, shut it down gracefully by using the Shut Down menu. If you can’t get to the Shut Down menu or it doesn’t react properly, just turn the power off.)

Then turn the computer back on, but immediately put your finger near the F8 key and watch carefully for the words "Starting Windows 95" to appear. (They appear in white letters, on a black background, just before you see the clouds.) When the words "Starting Windows 95" appear, press the F8 key immediately.

The computer will say "Microsoft Windows 95 Startup Menu". From that menu, choose "Safe mode command prompt only" (by pressing a number such as 7 and then pressing ENTER).

C:\>copy config.a *.sys

C:\>copy autoexec.a *.bat

Finally, turn the power off, wait for the computer to quiet down, turn the computer back on, and you should be back where you were before you tried this experiment.

Then if you’re ambitious, edit CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT more carefully, trying to figure out which lines to keep and which to discard. Read my DOS chapter for further details. You can phone me for help at 617-666-2666.

Click "Start" then "Run". Then type "win.ini" (and press ENTER). You see a window showing you the many equations that comprise WIN.INI.

Two of those equations should say:

load=

run=

In those "load=" and "run=" equations, typically nothing should come after the equal sign.

Any program mentioned after the equal sign will be loaded and run automatically every time you start Windows. A program should be mentioned after the equal sign just if you really do want to run that program every time you start Windows.

Then exit from the editor (by clicking its X box and then pressing ENTER).

Shut down the computer completely (by clicking "Start" then "Shut Down" then "Yes" then turning the power off). When the computer has quieted down, turn it back on and watch what happens.

Probably Windows 95 will start fine (faster and better!) because of the changes you made to WIN.INI. If not, revert the WIN.INI file back to its original state. (Phone me at 617-666-2666 if you need any help reverting.)

Windows 3.1 housecleaning

The following comments apply to Windows 3.1 and 3.11.

The best way to make Windows 3.1 (or 3.11) work better is to upgrade to Windows 95.

Microsoft tried hard to make Windows 95 fix all of Windows 3.1’s problems — and on the whole, Microsoft succeeded! Also, the newest versions of all popular programs require you to buy Windows 95. Internet access is faster, simpler, and more reliable if you buy Windows 95. Also, Windows 95 is technically superior: it does a better job of handling multitasking (many tasks in the RAM simultaneously), new devices (it automatically detects any new hardware you buy), and repairs (it tries to automatically fix itself when anything goes wrong). Many Windows 3.1 headaches arise from incorrect CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files, but Windows 95 doesn’t need those files at all!

Windows 95 needs 8M of RAM to run acceptably (16M of RAM to run well). If you have enough RAM, the only disadvantage of Windows 95 is that it takes longer to boot up and shut down. So if possible, upgrade to Windows 95.

Here’s how:

If another window is open, close it by double-clicking its control box (the white horizontal bar in the window’s top left corner).

If a program is running, exit from it by choosing "Exit" from its File menu.

If the words "Program Manager" appear at the top of a window but not at the top of your screen, maximize the window by clicking the "5 " (which is in the window’s top right corner).

If the words "Program Manager" appear under an icon, click the icon and then click "Maximize".

Make the Options menu go away (by pressing the Esc key).

When Pattern, Screen Saver, and Wallpaper are each "None", click "OK".

Here’s why:

Print Manager is well-intentioned software that unfortunately screws up. It tries to help you by playing this trick: whenever you tell the computer to print on paper, Print Manager diverts the request: instead of printing the output directly onto paper, Print Manager prints the output onto your disk instead, then later copies that output from the disk to your printer. So it’s a two-step process: output to be printed is sent first to the hard disk, then copied from the hard disk to the printer. As soon as the first part of the process has finished (all the output has reached the hard disk), Print Manager lets you use your keyboard and mouse again, so you can accomplish whatever further computerized tasks you wish, while output is being sent from the disk to the printer. The result is that you can start working on a second task before the first task has finished printing.

But Print Manager screws up, for two reasons.…

The second reason why Print Manager screws up is that your computer probably doesn’t have enough RAM to run Print Manager at the same time as other software.

That’s why I recommend not using Print Manager in Windows 3.1.

In Windows 95, Print Manager is usually okay, since Windows 95 manages RAM problems better and since most folks using Windows 95 have bought lots of RAM and a huge hard disk.

When you finish eliminating the X from the Use Print Manager box, click "Close".

Then close the Control Panel window. Close the Main window.

Typically, the StartUp folder should be empty, so your computer won’t be distracted by having to run junk. If your StartUp folder is not empty, you see icons in it. You should probably delete all those icons. Before deleting an icon, try to figure out each icon’s purpose, and figure out whether you have a copy of it in another folder besides StartUp. If you have another copy of the icon, or if the icon is for software that you never use, do this:

Click on the icon (just once, not twice), so its name appears in a blue box.

From the File menu, choose Properties. (To do that, click the word "File" at the screen’s top left corner, then click the word "Properties".) You’ll see info about the file’s properties. Onto a sheet of paper, copy that info (the file’s Description, Command Line, and Working Directory), so if you change your mind and want the file back, you’ll have an easier time reconstructing the file. Then click OK.

From the File menu, choose Delete. Then press ENTER. The icon will vanish.

If you’re not sure whether to delete an icon from the StartUp folder, the safest procedure is to drag the icon temporarily into another folder instead. (To do that, get both folders opened at the same time, drag the folders away from each other to minimize the overlap, then drag the icon from the StartUp folder to the other folder.) A quicker alternative is to just be brave and delete the icon by using the procedure I explained in the box; but make sure you include the step about File Properties so you can reconstruct the icon if you change your mind. (Here’s how to reconstruct a StartUp icon: click anywhere in the StartUp folder, then choose New from the File menu, then press ENTER, then fill in the blanks by using the notes you’d written on the sheet of paper, then press ENTER).

When you’ve finished examining and fiddling with the StartUp folder, close it.

At the C prompt, say "edit windows\win.ini", so your screen looks like this:

C:\>edit windows\win.ini

When you press the ENTER key at the end of that line, your screen will turn blue. (If it doesn’t turn blue, recheck your typing, or try saying "dos\edit" instead of "edit".)

On the blue screen, you’ll see the many equations that comprise WIN.INI. Two of those equations should say:

load=

run=

In those "load=" and "run=" equations, typically northing should come after the equal sign.

Any program mentioned after the equal sign will be loaded and run automatically every time you start Windows. A program should be mentioned after the equal sign just if you really do want to run that program every time you start Windows.

Then exit from the editor (by pressing the Alt key, then the F key, then the X key). The computer will say "Loaded file is not saved." Press the ENTER key (which saves the file).

Turn off the computer. When the computer has quieted down, turn it back on and watch what happens.

Probably Windows will start fine (faster and better!) because of the changes you made to WIN.INI. If not, revert the WIN.INI file back to its original state. (Phone me at 617-666-2666 if you need any help reverting.)

DOS housecleaning

The following comments apply to MS-DOS 6.2 (or 6.21 or 6.22) on a computer having at least a 386 CPU and at least 2M of RAM.

C:\>

If you’re in Windows instead, get to the C prompt by choosing "Exit Windows" from the File menu. If you’re in DOS shell, get to the C prompt by pressing the F3 key.

If your C prompt is too short and says just "C>", make it longer by saying "prompt $p$g". If your C prompt is too long and has extra words in it, get rid of the extra words by saying "cd \".

C:\>del *.chk

That makes the computer delete any files that end in ".CHK".

Here’s why:

Any file that ends in ".CHK" was created by using "chkdsk" or "scandisk". That file is just a "lost chain" (fragment of a discarded file). It’s useless. It just wastes space on your hard disk. It should be deleted.

C:\>set

You’ll see several equations. One of the equations probably begins by saying "SET TEMP=C:\". That equation tells which directory contains your temporary files.

All temporarily files should have been deleted by the computer; but sometimes the computer forgets to delete them. Delete them yourself, manually. Here’s how:

SET TEMP=C:\TEMP C:\>del temp

SET TEMP=C:\WINDOWS\TEMP C:\>del windows\temp

SET TEMP=C:\PBTOOLS\WINTEMP C:\>del pbtools\wintemp

SET TEMP=C:\DOS C:\>del dos\*.tmp

C:\>del dos\~*.*

C:\>md temp

SET TEMP=C:\WINDOWS C:\>del windows\*.tmp

C:\>del windows\~*.*

C:\>md temp

When typing those lines, type carefully. If you make a mistake, you’ll delete files that are important.

To type the symbol "~", hold down the SHIFT key while tapping the key that’s typically next to the number 1. If you have questions about how to type, phone me at 617-666-2666 for help.

If the computer asks "Are you sure?", press the Y key then ENTER. If the computer says "file not found", there were no temporarily files to delete.

C:\>copy config.sys *.a

C:\>copy autoexec.bat *.a

While typing those lines, make sure you put the spaces, asterisks, and periods in the right places, and make sure you type the "c" at the end of "autoexec".

Those lines make copies of CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT. The copies are called CONFIG.A and AUTOEXEC.A and are stored on your hard disk.

C:\>edit config.sys

The screen should turn blue. (If it remains black and says "bad command or file name", the computer doesn’t understand "edit". To get around that problem, try typing "dos\edit" instead of just "edit".)

device=dos\himem.sys /testmem:off

device=dos\emm386.exe ram d=64

dos=high,umb

stacks=0,0

buffers=40

files=50

Some CD-ROM drives require you to put one or two extra "helper" lines before the CD-ROM drive line. Those "helper" lines mention the same subdirectory (folder) as the CD-ROM drive line. Those lines should begin by saying "devicehigh=". (If they say "device=" instead, change them to "devicehigh=".)

Except for the line about the CD-ROM drive, your CONFIG.SYS file should typically consist of just the 6 lines I listed above.

If you have a line saying "dos=high" and a line saying "dos=umb", combine them into a line saying "dos=high,umb".

When you finish editing CONFIG.SYS, exit from the editor (by pressing the Alt key, then the F key, then the X key). The computer will say "Loaded file is not saved." Press the ENTER key (which saves the file).

C:\edit autoexec.bat

The screen should turn blue. (If it remains black and says "bad command or file name", the computer doesn’t understand "edit". To get around that problem, try typing "dos\edit" instead of just "edit".)

On the blue screen, you’ll see your current version of AUTOEXEC.BAT.

AUTOEXEC.BAT’s top line should say:

@echo off

If that line is elsewhere, move it to the top. Here’s how: move to that line by using the down-arrow key, then press Ctrl with Y (which yanks the line from its old position), then move up the beginning of the first line, then press Shift with INSERT (which inserts the line where desired).

Fix the other lines in AUTOEXEC.BAT by reading the info on pages 135-137. Just as you did in CONFIG.SYS, remove any junk that was inserted by memmaker or qemm.

When you’ve finished editing AUTOEXEC.BAT, exit from the editor (by pressing Alt then F then X then ENTER).

If you have any trouble rebooting, use this trick to reboot:

Reboot the computer again, but when the computer says "Starting MS-DOS" immediately press the F5 key. You’ll be at a C prompt. Then try again to edit CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT. If you wish to return to your original CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT, type this:

C:\>copy config.a *.sys

C:\>copy autoexec.a *.bat

After making CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT the way you wish, reboot again.

After you’ve rebooted successfully, try running your favorite programs, to make sure they still work okay.

Probably, they’ll work better! If they have trouble working, edit again or phone me at 617-666-2666 for advanced tricks.

Strategies for repair

Here are the general principles you need to know, to repair a computer.

Ask

Most computers come with a one-year warranty. If your computer gives you trouble during that first year, make use of the warranty: get the free help you’re entitled to from your dealer. If your "dealer" is a general-purpose department store that doesn’t specialize in computers, the store might tell you to phone the computer’s manufacturer.

For tough software questions, the dealer might tell you to phone the software’s publisher.

Most computers come with a 30-day money-back guarantee. If the computer is giving you lots of headaches during the first 30 days, just return it!

Chuck

If a 10-megabyte hard disk stops working, and you can’t fix the problem in an hour or so, just give up and buy a new hard disk, since 10-megabyte hard disks are obsolete anyway. Today, 10 megabytes aren’t worth much; the price difference between a 30-megabyte drive and a 40-megabyte drive is about $10.

Observe

If the message flashes on the screen too briefly for you to read, try pressing the computer’s PAUSE key as soon as the message appears. The PAUSE key makes the message stay on the screen for you to read. When you finish reading the message, press the ENTER key.

If you’re having trouble with your printer, and your printer is modern enough to have a built-in screen, read the messages on that screen too.

Check the monitor’s brightness and contrast knobs, to make sure they’re turned to the normal (middle) position.

If you have a dot-matrix printer, make sure the paper is feeding correctly, and make sure you’ve put into the correct position the lever that lets you choose between tractor feed and friction feed.

Make sure each cable is plugged into the correct socket. Examine the back of your computer, printer, monitor, and modem: if you see two sockets that look identical, try plugging the cable into the other socket. For example, the cable from your printer might fit into two identical sockets at the back of the computer (LPT1 and LPT2); the cable from your phone system might fit into two identical sockets at the back of your modem (LINE and PHONE); the cable from your monitor might fit into two identical sockets at the back of the computer (COLOR and MONOCHROME).

Strip

Then turn the computer back on. Try to make the screen say:

C:\>

If you succeed, your screen is working fine.

Then say "dir". If that makes the computer show you a directory of all the files in your hard disk’s root directory, your hard disk is working fine.

Then turn on the printer and say "dir>prn". If that makes the computer copy the directory onto paper, your printer’s working fine. (On some laser printers, such as the Hewlett Packard Laserjet 2, you need to manually eject the paper: press the printer’s ON LINE button, then the FORM FEED button, then the ON LINE button again.)

If your computer, monitor, hard drive, and printer pass all those tests, your hardware is basically fine; and so the problem you were having was probably caused by software rather than hardware. For example, maybe you forgot to tell your software what kind of printer and monitor you bought.

Booting problems

Lots of beeping

No video

If the monitor has a power-on light, check whether that light is glowing. If it doesn’t glow, the monitor isn’t getting any power (because the on-off button is in the wrong position, or the power cable is loose, or the monitor is broken). If the monitor is indeed broken, do not open the monitor, which contains high voltages even when turned off; instead, return the monitor to your dealer.

If you’ve fiddled with the knobs and cables and the power-on light is glowing but the screen is still blank, boot up the computer again, and look at the screen carefully: maybe a message did flash on the screen quickly?

SETUP

Each fast computer contains a battery that feeds power to the CMOS RAM. That CMOS RAM tries to keep track of the date, time, how many megabytes of RAM you’ve bought, how you want the RAM used, what kind of video you bought, and what kind of disk drives you bought.

If the information in the CMOS RAM is wrong, the computer usually gripes during bootup by printing a message such as, "Invalid configuration specification: run SETUP."

If your computer’s CPU is an old 286, the CMOS SETUP program comes on a floppy disk. That disk is not in the set of MS-DOS disks; instead, the CMOS SETUP program comes on a separate utility disk.

If your computer is a newer 286 or a 386 or 486, the CMOS SETUP program does not come on a floppy disk. Instead, the CMOS SETUP program hides in a ROM chip inside your computer and is run when you hit a "special key" during the bootup’s RAM test. That "special key" is usually either the DELETE key or the Esc key or the F1 key; to find out what the "special key" is on your computer, read your computer’s manual or ask your dealer.

Once the CMOS SETUP program starts running, it asks you lots of questions. For each question, it also shows you what it guesses the answer is. (The computer’s guesses are based on what information the computer was fed before.)

On a sheet of paper, jot down what the computer’s guesses are. That sheet of paper will turn out to be very useful!

Some of those questions are easy to answer (such as the date and time).

If you don’t know how to answer a question and can’t reach your dealer for help, just move ahead to the next question. Leave intact the answer that the computer guessed.

After you’ve finished the questionnaire, the computer will automatically reboot. If the computer gripes again, either you answered the questions wrong or else the battery ran out — so that the computer forgot your answers!

In fact, the most popular reason why the computer asks you to run the CMOS SETUP program is that the battery ran out. (The battery usually lasts 1-4 years.) To solve the problem, first make sure you’ve jotted down the computer’s guesses, then replace the battery, which is usually just to the left of the big power supply inside the computer. If you’re lucky, the "battery" is actually a bunch of four AA flashlight batteries that you can buy in any hardware store. If you’re unlucky, the battery is a round silver disk, made of lithium, like the battery in a digital watch: to get a replacement, see your dealer.

After replacing the battery, run the CMOS SETUP program again, and feed it the data that you jotted down.

That’s the procedure. If you’re ambitious, try it. If you’re a beginner, save yourself the agony by just taking the whole computer to your dealer: let the dealer diddle with the CMOS SETUP program and batteries for you.

Whenever you upgrade your computer with a better disk drive or video card or extra RAM, you must run the CMOS SETUP program again to tell the computer what you bought.

Here’s how to use the 4/4/93 version of AMIBIOS. (Other versions are similar.)

When you turn the computer on, the screen briefly shows this message:

AMIBIOS (C)1993 American Megatrends Inc.

000000 KB OK

Hit <DEL> if you want to run SETUP

Then the number "000000 KB" increases, as the computer checks your RAM chips. While that number increases, try pressing your keyboard’s DEL or DELETE key.

That makes the computer run the AMIBIOS CMOS SETUP program. The top of the screen will say:

AMIBIOS SETUP PROGRAM - BIOS SETUP UTILITIES

STANDARD CMOS SETUP

ADVANCED CMOS SETUP

ADVANCED CHIPSET SETUP

AUTO CONFIGURATION WITH BIOS DEFAULTS

AUTO CONFIGURATION WITH POWER-ON DEFAULTS

CHANGE PASSWORD

AUTO DETECT HARD DISK

HARD DISK UTILITY

WRITE TO CMOS AND EXIT

DO NOT WRITE TO CMOS AND EXIT

The first and most popular choice, "STANDARD CMOS SETUP", is highlighted. Choose it (by pressing ENTER).

The computer will warn you by saying:

Improper use of Setup may cause problems!!!

Press ENTER again.

The computer will show you the info stored in the CMOS about the date, time, base memory, extended memory, hard drives, floppy drives, video card, and keyboard.

If that stored info is wrong, fix it! Here’s how.…

By using the arrow keys on the keyboard, move the white box to the info that you want to fix. (Exception: you can’t move the white box to the "base memory" or "extended memory".) Then change that info, by pressing the keyboard’s PAGE UP or PAGE DOWN key several times, until the info is what you wish.

When you’ve finished examining and fixing that info, press the Esc key. You’ll see the main menu again.

When you’ve finished using the main menu, you have two choices:

If you’re unsure of yourself and wish you hadn’t fiddled with the SETUP program, just turn off the computer’s power! All your fiddling will be ignored, and the computer will act the same as before you fiddled.

On the other hand, if you’re sure of yourself and want the computer to take your fiddling seriously, press the F10 key then Y then ENTER. The computer will copy your desires to the CMOS and reboot.

Non-system disk

Those hidden system files are supposed to be on your hard disk. One reason why you might get that error message is that those hidden system files are missing from your hard disk — because that disk is new and hasn’t been formatted yet, or because when you formatted the disk you forgot to say "/s" at the end of the format command, or because you accidentally erased those files.

A more common reason for getting that error message is: you accidentally put a floppy disk into drive A! When the computer boots, it looks at that floppy disk instead of your hard disk, and gripes because it can’t find those system files on your floppy disk.

If the computer still says "Non-system disk or disk error", find the floppy disks that DOS came on and try again to install DOS onto your hard disk.

Command interpreter

Probably you accidentally erased COMMAND.COM, or accidentally fiddled with your CONFIG.SYS file, or accidentally put a floppy disk in drive A (which makes the computer look for COMMAND.COM on your floppy disk instead of your hard disk), or your COMMAND.COM file came from a different version of DOS than your hidden files.

Then try to copy DOS onto your hard disk again.

If you had accidentally erased COMMAND.COM from your hard disk, you probably also erased CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT, and you may need to reconstruct those files.

SHARE

If you refuse to upgrade, here’s another way to make sure that message disappears: put the SHARE.EXE program into your hard disk’s root directory and also your hard disk’s DOS directory.

(The SHARE.EXE program comes on the original DOS 4 floppy disks and is probably already in your hard disk’s DOS directory. To copy it to the root directory, just give the copy command.)

Keyboard problems

Your keyboard might seem broken. Here’s what to do.

Wet keyboard

Dead keyboard

If you stand behind the original IBM PC (instead of a newer computer), you’ll see two sockets that look identical. The left one (which usually has the word "Keyboard" and a "K" next to it) is for the keyboard cable; the other is for a cassette tape recorder (which nobody uses).

Turn the computer off. Leave it off for at least an hour, so it cools down.

Then turn the computer back on. Try to get to a C prompt.

After the C prompt, type a letter (such as x) and notice whether the x appears on the screen.

If the x appears, don’t bother pressing the ENTER key afterwards. Instead, walk away from the computer for two hours — leave the computer turned on — then come back two hours later and try typing another letter (such as y). If the y doesn’t appear, you know that the computer "died" sometime after you typed x but before you typed y. Since during that time the computer was just sitting there doing nothing except being turned on and getting warmer, you know the problem was caused by overheating: some part inside the computer is failing as the internal temperature rises. That part could be a RAM chip, BIOS chip, or otherwise.

Since that part isn’t tolerant enough of heat, it must be replaced: take the computer in for repair.

Sluggish key

If just one or two keys are sluggish, here’s how to try fixing a sluggish key.…

Take a paper clip, partly unravel it so it becomes a hook, then use that hook to pry up the key, until the keycap pops off. Clean the part of the keyboard that was under that keycap: blow away the dust, and wipe away grime (such as coagulated drinks). With the keycap still off, turn on the computer, and try pressing the plunger that was under the keycap. If the plunger is still sluggish, you haven’t cleaned it enough. (Don’t try too hard: remember that a new keyboard costs just about $30.) When the plunger works fine, turn off the computer, put the keycap back on, and the key should work fine.

Caps

The culprit is usually the CAPS LOCK key. Probably you activated it by pressing it accidentally when you meant to press a nearby key instead. The CAPS LOCK key stays activated until you deactivate it by pressing it again.

If your keyboard is modern, its top right corner has a CAPS LOCK light. That light glows when the CAPS LOCK key is activated; the light stops glowing when the CAPS LOCK key is deactivated.

If pressing the CAPS LOCK key doesn’t solve the problem, try jiggling the left and right SHIFT keys. (Maybe one of those SHIFT keys was accidentally stuck in the down position, because you spilled some soda that got into the keyboard and coagulated and made the SHIFT key too sticky to pop all the way back up.)

If playing with the CAPS LOCK and SHIFT keys doesn’t immediately solve your problem, try typing a comma and notice what happens. If the screen shows the symbol "<" instead of a comma, your SHIFT key is activated. (The CAPS LOCK key has no effect on the comma key, since the CAPS LOCK key affects just letters, not punctuation.) If pressing the comma key makes the screen show a comma, your SHIFT key is not activated, and any problems you have must therefore be caused by the CAPS LOCK key instead.

Perhaps the CAPS LOCK key is being activated automatically by the program you’re using. (For example, some programs automatically activate the CAPS LOCK key because they want your input to be capitalized.) To find out, exit from the program, reboot the computer, get to a C prompt, and try again to type. If the typing is displayed fine, the "problem" was probably caused by just the program you were using — perhaps on purpose.

In some old Leading Edge Model D computers, the ROM has a defect that occasionally misinterprets the signals from the CAPS LOCK and SHIFT keys. When that happens, just try tapping those keys until the display returns to normal.

Printer problems

If you’re having trouble printing, the first thing to do is try this experiment. Turn off the computer and the printer (so you can start fresh). When the computer has become quiet, turn it back on; then turn the printer back on. Get out of Windows and any other software you’re in, so you have a C prompt, like this:

C:\>

Then say "dir>prn" like this:

C:\>dir>prn

That’s supposed to make the printer print a copy of your directory.

Another experment to try is this:

C:\>echo abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz>prn

That’s supposed to make the printer print the alphabet.

If both of those experiments work fine, all your hardware is okay. Any remaining problem is probably just software: for example, you forgot to tell your program or Windows what kind of printer you bought, or you told it incorrectly.

If the experiments do not work fine, you’re having a hardware problem: the problem lies in your printer, your computer, or the cable connecting them. Here are further details.…

Incomplete characters

If some other part of each character is missing, and you’re using a 9-pin or 24-pin printer, probably one of the pins is broken or stuck. Look at the print head, where the pins are. See if one of the pins is missing or broken. If so, consider buying a new print head, but beware: since print heads are not available from discount dealers, you must pay full list price for the print head, and pay almost as much for it as discount dealers charge for a whole new printer!

Substitute characters

If unplugging and replugging the cable does not solve the problem, then the cable is not just loose: it’s probably defective!

To prove that it’s defective, borrow a cable from a friend and try again. If your friend’s cable works with your computer and printer, your original cable was definitely the culprit.

Once you’ve convinced yourself that the problem is the cable, go to a store and buy a new cable. It costs about $8 from discount dealers (such as Staples).

It’s cheaper to buy a new cable than to fix the old one.

If the new cable doesn’t solve your problem, try a third cable, since many cables are defective!

If none of the three cables solves your problem, the problem is caused by defective circuitry in your printer or in your computer’s parallel-printer port. Get together with a friend and try swapping printers, computers, and cables: make

notes about which combinations work and which don’t. You’ll soon discover which computers, cables, and printers work correctly and which ones are defective.

Extra characters

To tell Windows which printer you bought, go to the program manager, then double-click the Main icon, then double-click the Control Panel icon, then double-click the Printers icon, then follow the prompts on the screen. To tell a non-Windows program which printer you bought, read the program’s manual: look for the part of the manual that explains "printer installation & selection & setup".

Misaligned columns

If the TAB key doesn’t make the columns your favorite width, customize how TAB key works by adjusting the TAB stops. (In most word-processing programs, you adjust the TAB stops by sliding them on the layout ruler.)

Touching characters

For example, suppose you plan to type a document by using your home computer’s word-processing program, then copy the document onto a floppy disk, take the floppy disk to your office, and print a final draft on the office’s printer. Since you’ll be printing the final draft on the office’s printer, tell your home computer that you’ll be using the office’s printer.

If you’re using Windows, here’s how: double-click the Main icon, double-click the Control Panel icon, double-click the Printer icon, click the Add button, then double-click the printer’s name.

Margins

If those assumptions are not correct, tell the software. For example, give a "margin", "page size", or "feed" command to your word-processing software.

On pin-feed paper, the printer can print all the way from the very top of the paper to the very bottom. On friction-feed paper, the printer cannot print at the sheet’s very top or very bottom (since the rollers can’t grab the paper securely enough while printing there). So on friction-feed paper, the printable area is smaller, as if the paper were shorter. Telling the software wrong info about feed has the same effect as telling the software wrong info about the paper’s height: you get creep.

Insufficient memory

Here’s the newest nuisance ever invented!

If you’re lucky, the "Insufficient memory" message will include a comment about how much RAM you need. For further details about how much RAM you need, read the program’s "System Requirements" notice, which appears on the side or back of the box that the program came in. For even more details about how much RAM you need, read the beginning of the program’s instruction manual: just before it explains how to install the program, it explains the detailed "System Requirements".

Notice not just how much RAM the program requires but also what kind of RAM. How much conventional RAM does it require? How much extended (XMS) RAM? How much expanded (EMM) RAM?

To find out how much RAM is in your computer at the moment, give the "mem" command, like this:

C:\>mem

That command tells you how much conventional, extended, and expanded RAM you have, and how much of each type is still available.

That "mem" command works just in DOS 4, 5, 6, and beyond. If you’re stuck with an older DOS, say "chkdsk" instead of "mem". Unfortunately, "chkdsk" says just how much conventional RAM you have; it doesn’t say how much extended or expanded RAM you have.

If much less than 619K of your computer’s conventional RAM is free, increase the conventional RAM by making your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files resemble mine. Here are the fundamental techniques my CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files use, to increase the amount of conventional RAM:

In CONFIG.SYS, usually say "devicehigh=" instead of "device=".

In AUTOEXEC.BAT, usually say "Lh c:" instead of "c:".

In AUTOEXEC.BAT, delete any line mentioning SMARTDRV.EXE.

In CONFIG.SYS, say "buffers=40".

In CONFIG.SYS, say "dos=high,umb".

In CONFIG.SYS, mention HIMEM.SYS and EMM386.EXE.

In CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT, delete any lines you don’t need.

The amount of expanded RAM is 0, unless your CONFIG.SYS file contains a line mentioning "emm386.exe" and that line has the word "ram" in it (instead of "noems").

To use extended RAM, your CONFIG.SYS file must contain a line mentioning "himem.sys". You’ll have more extended RAM available if you delete any line mentioning SMARTDRV.EXE and make sure your "emm386" line says "noems" instead of "ram". If you’re still short of RAM, buy more RAM chips! To run modern Windows software well, get at least 8 megabytes of RAM altogether.

Windows 3.1 problems

The main reason why Windows 3.1 (or 3.11) screws up is insufficient conventional RAM.

Windows needs at least 565K of conventional RAM free, in order to run well. Unfortunately, companies such as Gateway and Dell ship computers having less than 565K of conventional RAM free. To find out how much conventional RAM you have free, say "mem".

To increase the amount of conventional free RAM, follow my suggestions on the previous page. You should also get rid of screen savers.

Windows wants 8M of RAM altogether. If your computer’s total RAM is much less than 8M (for example, if you bought just 4M), get rid of the AUTOEXEC.BAT line that mentions SMARTDRV.EXE and change the number of buffers in CONFIG.SYS to 40. Exception: if you compressed your hard drive, you must keep SMARTDRV.EXE, in order to prevent your hard drive from seeming too slow.

Another source of Windows headaches is a full hard drive.

Make sure your hard drive has at least 10M free. To check that, say "chkdsk" and look at the number of "bytes available on disk". If you have less than 10M free, erase the files you don’t use.

Many other headaches can occur. Though Windows was supposed to make computers easier, it’s had exactly the opposite effect. Much of my life is spent stuck on the phone answering questions about why Windows doesn’t work properly.

Windows 95 is slightly better.

Viruses

Types of viruses

Many viruses fit into more than one of these categories. For example, a bomb virus might duplicate itself, so that virus is both a bomb and a worm.

Viruses are also identified by where they hide:

How viruses arose

Fortunately, companies writing anti-virus software are working just as hard as the villains writing the viruses. Most anti-virus companies release updates quarterly or monthly — sometimes for free.

Who gets viruses

The most common place to find viruses is at schools.

Another source of viruses is computer stores, in their computer-repair departments.

While trying to analyze and fix broken computers, the repair staff often shoves diagnostic disks into the computers, to find out what’s wrong. If one of the broken computers has a virus, the diagnostic disks accidentally get viruses from the broken computers and then pass the viruses on to other computers. So if you bring your computer to a store for repairs, don’t be surprised if your computer gets fixed but also gets a virus.

Occasionally, a major software company will screw up, accidentally get infected by a virus, and unknowingly distribute it to all folks buying the software. Even companies as big as Microsoft have accidentally distributed viruses.

America Online tries to scan its own files to make sure they don’t contain viruses. Some Internet sites might have viruses, which you could contract if you copy software from those sites. America Online can’t protect you from any viruses that flow through it from the Internet to you.

Protection

If you don’t share programs with other folks, you probably won’t get a virus. MS-DOS comes with an anti-virus program called "msav" (which stands for MicroSoft Anti-Virus), but it’s rather useless, since most of the common viruses were invented after it was and are smarter than it.

If you have Windows 95, make sure you buy anti-virus software that’s designed for Windows 95. Older anti-virus software thinks Windows 95 is one big virus and tries to erase all of Windows 95.

Alas, using virus-scanning software can make your computer run slower, since virus-scanning can take a long time and consume RAM.

Common boot-sector viruses

I’ll start with the viruses that are easiest to understand and progress to the ones that are trickiest.

Your hard drive becomes "not installed".

Your 1.44M floppy drive becomes "1.2M".

A 1.2M floppy drive becomes "not installed".

A 360K floppy drive becomes "720K", and vice-versa.

To evade detection and give itself time to spread to other computers, it waits a while before doing that damage: it waits until you’ve accessed the floppy drive many times; on the average, it waits for 256 accesses.

It’s spread just when someone tries to boot the system from an infected floppy disk. It reduces your total conventional RAM memory by 2K, so you have 638K instead of 640K.

After it’s damaged your CMOS settings, here’s how to recover: run your computer’s CMOS setup program, which lets you reset the CMOS to the correct settings.

It stays in RAM even if you press Ctrl with Alt with Del: to unload the virus from RAM, you must turn off the computer’s power or press the Reset button.

It was intended to be harmless, but it assumes your floppy disk is 360K and accidentally erases important parts of the directory on higher-capacity floppy disks (such as 1.44M disks). It also makes your computer run slower — as if your computer were stoned.

It reduces your total conventional RAM memory by 1K, so you have 639K instead of 640K.

The simplest way to avoid damage from this virus is to adopt this trick: on March 5^th, before you turn off the computer, change the computer’s date to March 7^th, thereby skipping March 6^th.

It reduces your total conventional RAM by 1K, so you have 639K instead of 640K.

Other common viruses

The following viruses infect locations other than boot sectors.

The virus also overwrites .ASM files (programs written in assembler) with a short program. When you try to compile the .ASM program, the computer hangs.

Dis is one half

Press any key to continue......

This virus is tough to remove successfully, since removing the virus will also remove your ability to access the data.

It was invented in 1995. It was the first virus ever invented that infects documents instead of programs or boot sectors. It was also the first virus ever invented that can infect both kinds of computers: IBM and Mac!

Old anti-virus programs can’t detect it. It’s spreading fast. It’s become more prevalent than any other virus. Microsoft Word’s newest version (Word 97) protects itself again the virus, but its predecessor (Word 7) is vulnerable unless you buy a new anti-virus program that includes anti-Concept.