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|A ^0Diskussion |A ^1Blue Notes |Aͺ ^0Diskussion |A
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 Dear Big Blue Disk,

    This issue (BBD #37) was really good.  I'm wondering if there is a way 
 to get in touch with the authors individually, or should I just write to them 
 care of Big Blue Disk?  One of my questions, for example, (and I know this 
 must sound pretty dumb) is whether it is better to leave the computer on all 
 day or to turn it on and off each time you want to use it?  For example, with 
 my computer at work I might use it for a half hour in the morning, go to 
 meetings for about 2 hours and then use it again for a half hour, have lunch, 
 come back and use the computer for a couple of hours, do some other work, turn 
 off the computer and go home for the day.  Normally, I just turn the computer 
 on at 8 AM and turn it off at 5 PM, but with the autopark article I'm 
 wondering if I might be inviting disaster. 

    Another comment that I would like to make is that memory resident programs 
 make me nervous.  How can the author of such a memory resident program be sure 
 that I don't have some piece of software which will cause a conflict with that 
 memory resident program? 

    One of the things that I especially like about BBD is that all (or almost 
 all) of the programs seem to work in a similar way.  They all seem to have the 
 same "front end" as far as the user is concerned.  When you receive a piece of 
 software from a potential author do you put the front end on the software or 
 do you expect the author to do that? 

^RDick DuBroff
^RRolla, MO 

 ^1>  I'm happy to hear that you liked BBD #37.  We had a lot of fun putting 
 ^1>it together.  If you want to contact any of the program authors of an issue, 
 ^1>just send all correspondence care of Big Blue Disk.  We will be more than 
 ^1>happy to forward your letters to them.  

 ^1>  Much like you, I come in and turn my system on first thing in the morning 
 ^1>and leave it on all day.  You shouldn't have any problem doing this sort of 
 ^1>thing.  I do recommend that if you have severe weather in the area and you 
 ^1>are not working on the system, you shut it down.  What you definitely want 
 ^1>to do is make sure that the Read/Write heads on your hard drive are parked 
 ^1>before you move your PC.  Autopark is a utility that will automatically do 
 ^1>this for you.  If you are in a meeting and someone shuts your system off and 
 ^1>moves it, so long as it is after the period of time you designate, the heads 
 ^1>on your hard drive will be placed in a safe position.

 ^1>  Memory resident (TSR) programs always run the risk of conflicting with 
 ^1>other pieces of software.  There are several ways a conflict may occur.  One 
 ^1>of the most common is "Hot-Key" duplication.  An example of this is when the 
 ^1>key combination that activates the TSR is used by another piece of software 
 ^1>that is running at the time.  This is more an annoyance than a problem.  You 
 ^1>will be unable to utilize the function activated by this "Hot-Key" until you 
 ^1>remove the TSR from memory.  The most frequently used method of removing TSR's 
 ^1>is to reboot your computer.  

 ^1>  Experience is the best teacher.  You will need to experiment with the 
 ^1>various memory resident utilities that you like.  If a conflict occurs just 
 ^1>remove the TSR before running that program.

 ^1>  We work very hard to design all our programs to look and behave in the 
 ^1>same manner.  We hope this type of approach helps create an environment that 
 ^1>is easy to use so that you can spend your computing time more productively. 

|5

 Dear Big Blue Disk,

     I have been a subscriber to BBD since Issue #18 and have enjoyed your
 product very much, though some of the programs are not or have not been of 
 use to me.  I only recently purchased a printer, but have been attempting 
 to amass a software collection that one day would be of use with one.  So, 
 now I rummage through my files to find copies of Print Shop Utilities and 
 the Print Shop Graphics you so often include on the collection.  While I am 
 not exactly a novice, I am still not proficient in using this box to it's 
 fullest (example: I returned my printer because I couldn't get it to print 
 graphics, only to find out I had incorrectly redone my CONFIG.SYS!)  But now 
 I can't seem to use the PSUTIL, PSUTIL2 or PSUTIL3 programs to create a file 
 that Print Master can use. Every time I convert a Print Shop file to Print 
 Master, load Print Master and try to use graphics "From Another Disk", I get 
 the message "I am having trouble using this disk."  I have tried renaming the 
 PM file to everything I can imagine, but to no avail.  Is this a "bug" or am I 
 overlooking the obvious again??? 

     Well, here's to you and your product.  Keep up the good work!  I can use
 all the help I can get!!!

^RBrian L. Moore
^RFrankfort, KY 

 ^1>  Which version of Print Master are you using?  We have tested our conversion 
 ^1>utility with both Print Master and Print Master Plus.  In both cases we have 
 ^1>had no problem with the converted images.  Earlier versions required the 
 ^1>converted file to have a certain name.  For example, the first version of 
 ^1>this software required you to save the graphics file with the name ULIB.  You 
 ^1>might try this approach and see if this solves the problem.  Let me know how 
 ^1>everything turns out.
 
|5

 Dear Big Blue Disk:

     Each month you include Printshop Images and have had three versions of 
 the Printshop Utilities Program, the last appearing in BBD #34.  They all have 
 been welcome.  Recently, despite the earthquake in California, I received the 
 upgrade from Broderbund for THE NEW PRINTSHOP.  This new version has several 
 new features which are great. However, with the good news comes the bad news.  
 None of the Printshop Utilities Programs work with the new format.  Are there 
 any plans for a Printshop Utilities IV ?  Also, all of the old graphics, 
 borders, and fonts must be converted to the new format using a CONVERT program 
 included with the upgrade.  Depending on how many you have, this can be a 
 dangerous and/or time consuming process. 

    From personal experience, I recommend that you check your files for 
 duplicate names.  If you have duplicates rename them before installing on a 
 hard disk or you may loose them.  The CONVERT program puts all old style 
 borders in a single new format file, while putting each font in its own file 
 with a .PNF extension.   One big problem I encountered was that I had 142 
 fonts before getting the Upgrade and 3 new libraries (40 more fonts). They 
 were all in the same directory on the hard disk.  After converting them all to 
 the new format, I found I could not access more than the first 40-60 fonts 
 loaded in the NEWPS directory.  I called Broderbund which told me my problem 
 was due to a lack of memory in the new program for fonts.  They told me I 
 would have to put the others on floppy disk.  So much for simplicity! 

     Overall, The New Printshop gives you much more flexibility and value over 
 the old product.  The New Companion is supposed to be released early next year 
 according to an insert with the Upgrade.  Even if Big Blue Disk only continues 
 to publish old style graphics, that is no problem due to the Convert program 
 included in the version of Printshop.  All graphics whichever format are 
 greatly appreciated!  Keep up the excellent job. 

^RDaniel D. Leighton
^RNarragansett, Rhode Island

 ^1>  At present, we have not discussed doing another Print Shop Utilities 
 ^1>program.  When George Leritte completed the last version we thought that 
 ^1>this would be it for a long time.  WRONG!  It wasn't more than two months 
 ^1>later that we found out about the new version of Print Shop.  We have been 
 ^1>so busy working on the past couple of issues, we haven't had time to look 
 ^1>at this newer version.  Once things settle down, I'm sure we will start 
 ^1>talking about another utilities program for Print Shop.

