PC Tools Deluxe Version 5.1 IMPORTANT NEW INFORMATION AND TIPS This README file is intended to supplement the manual and addendum. DOS 2.x USERS: ============== We recommend that you upgrade to DOS 3.2 or higher. Under DOS 2.x, you will not be able to hotkey into PCSHELL from DESKTOP, or run PCSHELL from the DESKTOP menu. PCSHELL is unable to conclusively determine if it is safe to wakeup in DOS 2.x in this case, so it will refuse to do so rather than risk a system crash. This limitation does not apply to versions of DOS greater than 3.0. MOUSE USERS: ============ If you are using a Microsoft Mouse then you should have version 6.14 or higher of the Microsoft Mouse driver. If you are using a Logitech/Dexxa mouse then you should have version 3.4X or higher of the mouse driver. Older mouse drivers may not work with all PC Tools Deluxe applications. CGA/EGA MONITORS: ================= On color monitors which provide high intensity colors, you can have either high intensity background colors or blinking characters. PC Shell and Desktop use high intensity background. If you hot-key into either program on a CGA or EGA monitor from a program with high intensity background selected, you will have characters blinking on exit from PC Shell or Desktop. To correct this use the system color utility in PC Shell or Desktop to turn high intensity background on upon exit. PCSHELL ======= Selecting Pull-Down Menus ------------------------- As a shortcut to pressing F10 or ALT to select one of PC Shell's pull-down menus, you can now just press the first letter in the name of the pull-down menu; for example, pressing F will pull down the File menu. This has the advantage of eliminating one key press. As a further example, if you want to select the File Copy command using the keyboard, you can press F10 + F, followed by C; or ALT + F, followed by C; or just F followed by C. Rereading disk and file information ----------------------------------- Every time that PC Shell is run, in resident or Shell mode, it will reread the disk information and update the file list display to reflect any changes that were made in the file list since the last time that PC Shell was used. This process is relatively fast. In resident mode PC Shell will reread the disk information and update the tree display if directories have been added or deleted since the last time you hotkeyed into PC Shell. There are circumstances when changes can be made to subdirectories when not in PC Shell which PC Shell cannot detect, such as renaming a subdirectory. In these cases pressing Ctrl + Drive letter will force PC Shell to update the tree display. The process of rereading the disk information and rebuilding the tree display takes enough time that PC Shell only does it when it knows that a change has been made, or you force it to. This was done to make it come up faster when you hotkey in. The first time that PC Shell is run in Shell mode, the tree display is read and saved in the file PCSHELL.TRE for reuse the next time it is run. As in resident mode, this makes it possible for PC Shell to come up much faster. In Shell mode PC Shell has no way of knowing if changes have been made to subdirectories when PC Shell is not running. So the next time that PC Shell is run, the tree display will be the same as it was from the previous time. You can press Ctrl + Drive letter to force PC Shell to reread the disk information and rebuild the tree. In addition, there is a new parameter which tells PC Shell how often to reread the disk information and rebuild the tree in shell mode: /TRN This parameter tells shell to do a Tree Rebuild every N days. If N is 0 then PC Shell will rebuild the tree display every time it is run in Shell mode; if N is 1 then it will rebuild the tree list every day, or as soon thereafter as PC Shell is run; if N is 7 then it will rebuild the tree list display every week, etc. COMPRESS ======== A new command has been added to the Compress pull-down menu, "Print Report". If this command is selected before compression is started, you will be asked if you want the a report sent to the printer or the disk after the compress is finished. If sent to disk, it is in the file, COMPRESS.RPT. The report summarizes the type of compression that was performed, the number of used, unused, and bad clusters on the disk, and the elapsed time it took to do the compression. PCBACKUP ======== New Option: "Quick Compress" ----------------------------- Quick Compress will attempt to do as much compression as possible without slowing your backup down appreciably. The amount of compression that will be done will depend upon your computer's processor and hard disk speed: The faster the processor and hard drive, the more compression will be done. On very slow computers (such as 4.77MHZ XT's), very little compression will be done as there is no extra time. On higher-speed 286 and 386 class computers with fast hard drives, the compression will be almost as much as selecting the standard "Compress" option. Manual clarification: --------------------- There are two ways to select your directories and files to back up. The first method is to use "Choose Directories" (or tab to the Tree display). Then select the directories you wish to include. (Note that you can deselect all directories by pressing the enter key or clicking the mouse over the root entry - usually C:\. You can also tab between the Tree and File list and select or deselect individual files. Selected files and directories are highlighted, deselected ones are shown with a lower brightness. Check your monitor's contrast and brightness controls to make sure that they are set properly so you can see the difference. The disadvantage of this method is that if you save a setup, the files and directories will NOT be saved. The second way to select your files, and the recommended way if you wish to create named setups that you can automatically run, is to use the "Include/exclude files" option in the Backup menu. This will display a simple editor where you can enter the list of directories and files to backup or exclude. Consult your manual for the details on using this option and to see several examples. ESTIMATIONS: The time estimations shown are for formatted disks, as PC Backup can't know in advance what disks you will insert during the backup. If you insert non-formatted disks, the backup will be slower. Remember that estimates will vary depending upon the makeup of your files - especially if you use compression. The Overwrite Warning Dialog Box appears when you are doing a restore and a file which is being restored will overwrite a file by the same name which already exists on your hard drive. A new option has been added to this dialog box, "Overwrite with newer file only". If you select this option, the file named in the dialog box will only be restored if it is newer, or has a more recent date, than the file already on the hard drive. This is useful if you a restoring from more than one set of backup disks and you want to make sure that only the newest files are restored. Doing a Full Restore without a Previously Saved Setup ----------------------------------------------------- 1. Select Define drive type from the Configure menu. 2. Select Restore type from the Restore menu. If your original backup was done using the High Speed DMA option, then select that. If your original backup was made using the DOS compatible option, then select that. 3. Select Restore from entry from the Restore menu. 4. Select Restore to entry from the Restore menu. 5. Select Start Restore. PC-CACHE ======== IOMEGA Bernoulli drives are supported by placing a special driver in the CONFIG.SYS file of the disk you use to start up the computer. This driver allows PC-Cache to monitor transfers to and from Bernoulli drives. To install the Bernoulli driver: ------------------------------- 1. Copy the PC-CACHE.SYS file from the disk to the root directory of the disk you use to start up the computer. 2. Identify the line in your CONFIG.SYS file that specifies the Bernoulli driver (IDRIVE.SYS, RCD.SYS, or equivalent) and place the following line directly after it: DEVICE=PC-CACHE.SYS 3. Restart your system. You should notice a sign-on message from PC-CACHE.SYS during the startup process. 4. Load PC-Cache as you normally would. Note: We recommend that you add the special PC-Cache driver even if you do not wish to cache your Bernoulli drives. In this case, use the /I parameter to ignore the caching of your Bernoulli drives. When PC-Cache is loaded it will check for the PC-CACHE.SYS driver. If PC-Cache has trouble finding this driver, it will issue one of the following two messages: WARNING: PC-CACHE.SYS placed after non-disk driver or /-x drive X cannot be cached--physical unit unknown If you receive the first message, check to see that you have placed PC-CACHE.SYS after the Bernoulli driver and your Bernoulli box is turned on. If you receive the second message, where x is the drive letter for one of your Bernoulli drives, check to see that you have placed the PC-CACHE.SYS file in the root directory of the disk you use to start up the computer and that you have correctly spelled the driver name in your CONFIG.SYS file. DESKTOP ======= You do not have to exit all your Desktop applications (such as Notepads, Calculators, etc.) prior to hotkeying back to DOS. The Desktop Hotkey (normally CTRL-SPACEBAR) is always active. If you hotkey out to DOS, then hotkey back in to Desktop, it will reload all your windows, leaving them just as they were when you left. Autosave -------- The autosave option in Notepads, Outlines, Appointment Scheduler, and Macro Editor is a global setting. If you turn autosave on in any of these applications, it is on for all of them. Likewise, if you turn it off in one of these applications, it is off for all of them. File Load Dialog Box -------------------- The applications use the File Load Dialog Box to ask you for the name of a file to load. Each of the applications use a different default file extension, .TXT for Notepads, .OUT for Outlines, etc. You do not have to enter the file extension when you enter the name of the file, the default extension will be supplied. So for example, if the name of the file you want to load into a Notepad is MEETING.TXT, you only need to type MEETING. If you want to load the file MEETING, which does not have an extension, then type MEETING., and no extension fill be added to the filename. OUTLINES -------- There is an error in the manual. The Wordwrap option, which is available in Notepads, is not available in Outlines. APPOINTMENT SCHEDULER --------------------- A new command has been added to the Controls Menu: Delete Old Appointments. If you select this command a dialog box will be displayed asking you to supply the terminating date for deleting old appointments. The purpose of deleting old appointments is to keep the appointment schedule files from becoming to large. If the file becomes to large you may begin to notice the appointment scheduler respond slower to your commands on slower (4.77 MHZ PC) machines. TELECOMMUNICATIONS ------------------ To perform a background ASCII or XMODEM transmission, start the transfer and then press ALT-B to enter background mode. This is documented in the bottom line help of telecommunications once a transfer has been started. After you press ALT-B, you will return to the main desktop menu or your underlying Desktop application. You can continue to work in Desktop or hotkey out to DOS and run other programs. When your transfer is done, you will hear a beep. Until this time, if you try to enter Telecommunications again, it will warn you that it is already busy transmitting a file. There is a new option in the Edit Phone Directory Dialog Box: Flow Control. The XON/XOFF option under Flow Control can be used in ASCII transmissions when both the sending and receiving machines support XON/XOFF. This option allows one machine to tell the other to briefly stop the transmission while it does something else. FINANCIAL CALCULATOR -------------------- The following examples replace those found in the manual: To calculate an amortization schedule (AMORT) page 444-445: ---------------------------------------------------------- Both the lender and borrower on a mortgage often want to know the amount of each level of payment that applies toward interest, how much to reduce the principal, and the remaining balance at that time. This is called the amortization schedule. Each payment normally covers the entire interest for that period plus some of the principal. As time goes on, less funds are needed to cover the interest on the shrinking debt. Then the principal payment accelerates. A 30-year, $50,000 mortgage at 14% APR has monthly payments in arrears. What are the amounts paid to interest and principal in the first year? From years two to five? What are the remaining balances at those times? Strategy All these questions are answered with the AMORT key. First, however, compute the PMT with a simple 5 key solution. Then use AMORT with the 5 key results still in the financial registers. Mouse Keyboard Explanation ----- -------- ----------- G END F8 keypad 8 Payments are in arrears. 30 G n 30 F8 Q (30 x 12) monthly payments. 14 G i 14 F8 W Enter APR as a monthly rate. 50,000 CHS PV 50,000 ] E Amount financed. 0 FV 0 T Amortized in 30 years. PMT R Result: $592.44 monthly payment. 12 F AMORT 12 F7 Q Analyze P and I for the first 12 periods. Result: Interest = $6,992.71. XY V Principal = $116.52 RCL PV M E Balance after 12th PMT: $-49,883.48. 48 F AMORT 48 F7 Q Analyze P and I for next 48 periods.Result: Interest = $-27,768.85. XY V Principal = $668.08. RCL PV M E Balance after 60th PMT: $-49,215.41. To calculate price and yield-to-maturity (YTM) page 465-466: ----------------------------------------------------------- A bond maturing on October 24, 1991 at a par of 100 is being offered on March 19, 1987 for 75 plus the odd-days' interest due the seller. The bond carries an 8% coupon rate, paid semi-annually on an actual 365-day basis. What is your Yield-To-Maturity if you buy this bond? What price (and what interest) would you pay to get a YTM of 12%. This is the only kind of bond to which the Financial Calculator's PRICE and YTM keys are applicable. Strategy Use the PRICE and YTM keys. Mouse Keyboard Explanation ----- -------- ----------- G M.DY F8 keypad 5 Sets the Financial Calculator to accept dates in this format. 75 PV 75 E Price paid, excluding interest. 8 PMT 8 R Coupon rate. 3.191987 Enter 3.191987 Enter Purchase date. 10.241991 10.241991 Maturity date. F YTM F7 S Result: 15.85% APR. 12 i 12 W Now play "What if?" by specifying a 12% APR yield. 3.191987 Enter 3.191987 Enter Purchase date. 10.241991 10.241991 Maturity date. F PRICE F7 A Result: 86.14 purchase price. XY V Result: 3.18 seller's interest. --------- Enjoy!