At 09:37 PM 05/20/2000, Mike & Ginger Woodcock wrote: *************START OF ORIGINAL MESSAGE TEXT************* At 08:16 PM 5/20/00 -0500, you wrote: I think it was on this list that I saw something about your "default text viewer" ie NotePad. does anyone know how (with very easy terms) to explain how to change the default text viewer to something else? Notepad does not work for me since I tried to install Norton AV. bummer! I lost several things that I used a lot but no more! The guy at the repair shops opinion is that the AV program was not compatible with some files on the disk. I live and try to learn but I just keep doing these, you would think I enjoy it. <g> Kay Kay, :-) LOLOL.. I'm the queen of Reformat.. LOLOL I do believe there are some programs that just are not compatible with some units.. and I'm sure I have that unit.. LOLOL ginger **************END OF ORIGINAL MESSAGE TEXT************** OK, now I gotta open my big mouth again and spout off about something that has always aggravated the heck out of me. Ever since I started using a computer, way back more years than I'm willing to admit, I have known users who, as a matter of routine, reformat their systems, about, on the average, every 6 months. Hardly a day goes by on the many Lists I manage or subscribe to, where I do not see a reference to "reformatting". WHY????? When I started out (with an 8086, 640 Kb memory, 5 Mb hard drive), I screwed up my system so bad that my "guru" pass-worded the system so I could not make any changes. He told me that until I learned how to operate the system, learn DOs, etc., he would not give me the password! Even then, I did not have to "reformat". And, I have never had to do so since that time. At that time, I had a friend (who got me started with computers) who reformatted HIS system about every 2 weeks! I just never understood it. Why does one need to "reformat"? Maybe I'm just dense, but I don't know of any problem that can't be solved without reformatting. (This is, of course, excluding a major systems failure caused by a virus, or whatever.) I guess the reason I'm writing this is that too many users think that the "final resort" is to "reformat". Folks, there is no need for such a drastic action! Yes, I've had to RE-INSTALL Windows, Windows 3.0, Windows 3.1, and Windows 95, due to severe, unsolvable, problems. But, REFORMAT? Never! Re-installing your OS is much, much less drastic than RE-FORMATTING! SgtGeorge

> George, I bow my head in shame and sometimes in embarassment. :-) Some of the times we have had to reformat it has been due to conflicts and corruption of files, to the extent of not being able to "fix" it, because I installed a program I really liked but was no longer compatible with my upgraded unit. A couple of times I was the "hotshot" that did the deed in my attempt at self learning.. LOL.. This actually happened only twice.. and with no backup, tho this was years ago... 3 weeks ago we got my newly built puter from the shop. I began loading and immediately saw problems.. Not myfault this time.. But, the puter guru decided to reformat and repartition the drives to make one drive small and JUST for windows so that if I pull a "dummy" we only have to do the windows drive. I remember the 8086's, and not fondly either.. That was the first one we had as well. I love this list, it provides so much food for thought and so much good information. Keep it coming.. And I will be looking into the info below.. ginger >OK, now I gotta open my big mouth again and spout off about something that >has always aggravated the heck out of me. > >Ever since I started using a computer, way back more years than I'm >willing to admit, I have known users who, as a matter of routine, reformat >their systems, about, on the average, every 6 months. > >Hardly a day goes by on the many Lists I manage or subscribe to, where I >do not see a reference to "reformatting". WHY????? > >When I started out (with an 8086, 640 Kb memory, 5 Mb hard drive), I >screwed up my system so bad that my "guru" pass-worded the system so I >could not make any changes. He told me that until I learned how to >operate the system, learn DOs, etc., he would not give me the >password! Even then, I did not have to "reformat". And, I have never had >to do so since that time. > >At that time, I had a friend (who got me started with computers) who >reformatted HIS system about every 2 weeks! I just never understood it. > >Why does one need to "reformat"? Maybe I'm just dense, but I don't know >of any problem that can't be solved without reformatting. (This is, of >course, excluding a major systems failure caused by a virus, or whatever.) > >I guess the reason I'm writing this is that too many users think that the >"final resort" is to "reformat". Folks, there is no need for such a >drastic action! > >Yes, I've had to RE-INSTALL Windows, Windows 3.0, Windows 3.1, and Windows >95, due to severe, unsolvable, problems. But, >REFORMAT? Never! Re-installing your OS is much, much less drastic than >RE-FORMATTING! > >SgtGeorge Mike & Ginger Woodcock/EagleRun Australian Shepherds [email protected] http://www.eaglerun1.com Ginger's WebDesign is here to help with your Web Needs, Give us a call, or email with your questions. Remember, the purchase of an EagleRun Aussie is not the end of a Transaction, it is the Beginning of a Relationship, enjoy!! :-)

At 10:07 21/05/00 -0500, you wrote: >> George, >>Yes, I've had to RE-INSTALL Windows, Windows 3.0, Windows 3.1, and >>Windows 95, due to severe, unsolvable, problems. But, >>REFORMAT? Never! Re-installing your OS is much, much less drastic than >>RE-FORMATTING! >> >>SgtGeorge This is possibly off-topic here, but if not, would you please be prepared to instruct on re-installing the operating system? a. Win95 on win95 b. win98 on win95 What I have in mind is that there are presumably some files that the system must have during re-installing. So FIRST erasing all windows stuff seems dangerous. If you boot up from a floppy - and then wipe out existing (troublesome Windows) the cd drive will not work It may be that (about to be erased) the Registry files have to be dealt with It is a pain I MUST go through, and I am scared! One last bit. Assuming I have succeeded in re/installing one of the Windows versions, a. Do I have to re-install all the software b. how will I know which extras (upgrades) I have brought down over the months in an attempt to keep Windows up-to-date. Sorry, this is a long one! Maybe you just know an Information Sheet (FAQ) which I could download? I have searched the Microsoft website till I was blue in the fingers, and did not find one. David

At 10:46 AM 05/22/2000, David Lewin wrote: *************START OF ORIGINAL MESSAGE TEXT************* (snip) Assuming I have succeeded in re/installing one of the Windows versions, a. Do I have to re-install all the software b. how will I know which extras (upgrades) I have brought down over the months in an attempt to keep Windows up-to-date. Sorry, this is a long one! Maybe you just know an Information Sheet (FAQ) which I could download? I have searched the Microsoft website till I was blue in the fingers, and did not find one. David **************END OF ORIGINAL MESSAGE TEXT************** If you reinstall Windows, you can then log on to the Windows Update site at Microsoft. Your system will "tell" MS what you have and what you don't have in the way of updates. You then have to go through the long process of letting each download and install. The easiest way to go to Windows Update is to click on the "Start" button, then chose Windows Update. Will take you right to the site. SgtGeorge

> > >If you reinstall Windows, you can then log on to the Windows Update site >at Microsoft. Your system will "tell" MS what you have and what you don't >have in the way of updates. You then have to go through the long process >of letting each download and install. The easiest way to go to Windows >Update is to click on the "Start" button, then chose Windows Update. Will >take you right to the site. > >SgtGeorge But George, Didn't you say a while back that some of the things added to windows would allow problems... I'm trying my best to remember the conversation back around Jan....something about fixes and updates causing undo problems... Infact.. I was about to do some updating and decided against it.. Please enlighten me..I am at a lost now.. gee, must be the sudden rush of sugar from the piece of chocolate cake I just had.. *I'm diabetic* LOL ginger Mike & Ginger Woodcock/EagleRun Australian Shepherds [email protected] http://www.eaglerun1.com Ginger's WebDesign is here to help with your Web Needs, Give us a call, or email with your questions. Remember, the purchase of an EagleRun Aussie is not the end of a Transaction, it is the Beginning of a Relationship, enjoy!! :-)

At 10:30 PM 05/22/2000, Mike & Ginger Woodcock wrote: *************START OF ORIGINAL MESSAGE TEXT************* If you reinstall Windows, you can then log on to the Windows Update site at Microsoft. Your system will "tell" MS what you have and what you don't have in the way of updates. You then have to go through the long process of letting each download and install. The easiest way to go to Windows Update is to click on the "Start" button, then chose Windows Update. Will take you right to the site. SgtGeorge But George, Didn't you say a while back that some of the things added to windows would allow problems... I'm trying my best to remember the conversation back around Jan....something about fixes and updates causing undo problems... Infact.. I was about to do some updating and decided against it.. Please enlighten me..I am at a lost now.. gee, must be the sudden rush of sugar from the piece of chocolate cake I just had.. *I'm diabetic* LOL ginger **************END OF ORIGINAL MESSAGE TEXT************** Yes, I did. And that's why it's so danged hard to reinstall the current flavor of Windows! You still have to go through the entire process of upgrading and then go back in to your configuration and turn off certain things like "Windows Scripting". WHY can't they EVER make it simple?! SgtGeorge

At 12:47 AM 5/21/00 -0400, you wrote: >Why does one need to "reformat"? Maybe I'm just dense, but I don't know >of any problem that can't be solved without reformatting. (This is, of >course, excluding a major systems failure caused by a virus, or whatever.) > >I guess the reason I'm writing this is that too many users think that the >"final resort" is to "reformat". Folks, there is no need for such a >drastic action! Counts on what you are doing. I have been lucky to keep this one going for about four years. I have changed a lot of parts, and all, to upgrade performance, but could always keep it going. I test programs, try to learn ways to set up programs for clients all the time, and it is not unusual to have about 10 or 12 install/uninstalls a month. Presently I have 12 giga bytes of programs. Also about 10 giga bytes of data, mostly picture files either from digital camera or scanner. If you learn the systems and are conversant with the internal workings you can probably do ok. Now comes the rub as they say. Most of the persons I work with in Genealogy, are older, have only small bits of money, and their computer may be a 386 or a 486. This causes many problems. They cannot use the latest programs, without lots of tweaking. They, to a large part are not trained enough in computers, and do not want to learn them. They therefore make a lot of the most common mistakes. They un install by just taking out the folder rather than use the unwise program supplied by the company that developed the program, or do not use Windows un install. After two or three of these, it would take me, even, four or five days to unscramble what they have done. If it is possible at all. They try any program they hear about on the net that seems to do some "thing" they want. Quite frequently this causes many problems, especially if, like in the AV programs, you have two or more programs trying to do the same thing. They will fight, and if not completely removed, including the registry entries, will leave you in mudville. With these, and others, if they are not lucky enough to have a neighborhood whizgiz to help they frequently have to fdisk and start over. I have been in this business since 1959 as far as digital computers go, and it has always been great and easy for the informed, but pure hell for those who, for what ever reason, are not. One last bit of problem area, that is just now hitting the news big, is that several of the companies who make parts, motherboards, and such, make bad parts. The Intel problem at present is one of their chip sets. If you are lucky and have been doing just run of the mill work, it works OK, but not spectacular. It is now evident, that the underlaying problem is so large that it could make you lose a lot of data, and the computer will frequently lock up. If you think your motherboard might be Intel, or a close relative using their chip sets, and you have lots of lock up problems, go to their web site, and look for the write up on the problem. They are exchanging boards for those with the problem. There is a problem here however, as the new board uses a new type of ram, and so you will have to buy new ram. Of course it is the newest and most expensive ram available. If the big name companies have problems, you can see why I do not ever use "No Name" parts when I build or upgrade a computer. The computers we have on our desk tops now are many magnitudes more powerful than the super computers I worked with only 6 years ago. The only large benefit over ours of today they had, was the capability to talk to and work for 256 or more users at one time. This slowed them down, but they were made to do batch processing. Jack