Digest Articles SuperStor V2.0 by bmoy@xxxxxxxx From: bmoy@xxxxxxxx Subject: SuperStor V2.0 Date: Wed, 05 Mar 1997 10:04:02 -0500 Hi all, I'm about to start to use Superstor V2.0, an on-the-fly disk compression program, to try to double my SRAMs. It looks like the hard and software requirements matches that of the Poqet. Because I never enjoyed using the program, or maybe it's just that the manual seem to make it sooo complicated, I'm wondering if anyone out there had favorable results using the program. Thanks in advance for any support! -Bill PS I'll post my results when I finish... Hidden Files on the Rom Disk (C:) by Alessandro Foi From: Alessandro Foi Subject: Hidden Files on the Rom Disk (C:) Date: Thu, 06 Mar 1997 12:02:03 EST Hi, I was wondering what are those hidden files on the C: drive of my poqet... if I remember they were SYSMOD.COM... mhhhmm... no, I don't remember the others... Ciao, Alessandro Re: Digest poqetpc.v001.n082 by Michael Fetterman From: Michael Fetterman Subject: Re: Digest poqetpc.v001.n082 Date: Thu, 6 Mar 1997 12:21:17 -0500 (EST) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII In-Reply-To: <199703052008.MAA02972@xxxxxxxx> I have used WINDOWS 3.0 on 8088 laptops with POQET sized RAM in real mode. I do not recall the aggregate size of the minimal necessary files. I t likely is bigger than WINDOWS 2.0. WINDOWS 386 was the sme sized predecessor of WINDOWS 3.0. I never before heard of WINDOWS 286. I have copies of WINDOWS 3.0, 386 and 2.0. I'd guess that 3.0 copies are still available somewhere. Michael Fetterman d005041c@xxxxxxxx On Wed, 5 Mar 1997 poqetpc-errors@xxxxxxxx wrote: > > -------------- BEGIN poqetpc.v001.n082 -------------- > > 001 - Alessandro Foi 002 - Murph of Borg 003 - babbie@xxxxxxxx - Re: Digest poqetpc.v001.n081 > 004 - faethor@xxxxxxxx (J. - Where to find old Windows? > 005 - Jay Hinkel 006 - bmoy@xxxxxxxx - Excited! and Found Outlet for SRAM!!! > 007 - "Brent B. Powers" 008 - Bryan Mason 009 - Bryan Mason > * This is a Poqet PC Mailing List digest. Information on > * replying to messages in this digest can be found at the > * end of the digest. > > > --------------- MESSAGE poqetpc.v001.n082.1 --------------- > > From: Alessandro Foi > Subject: RE: Digest poqetpc.v001.n081 > Date: Tue, 04 Mar 1997 12:02:53 EST > > >No device drivers, no changes to config.sys - just the one 57k file. I've > >been running Win 286 from it for about a month now with no problems. > >One little annoying side effect. In dos, every time you change > >directories, drives or do just about anything at the dos prompt you get a > >message from stacker that says "STACKER more than doubles your disk > >capacity!! (type EXIT to unmount dirve B:)" I haven't figured out a way to > >get rid of it yet, but since I use Windows and its not a problem there, > >havn't tried to hard either. > > PROMPT $P$G will give you back the usual prompt > > Stacker anywhere works really well but I've noticed a few drawbacks: > - free space on disk is not dynamic, if you copy a 500Kb .zip file on a > 512KB stacker'ed card (becomes 1mb) and then type DIR you will read that > there are still more than a half megabytes free, which is simply not true, > and even more, isn't even nearly close to reality. I mean: the "real stacker" > updates dynamically the shown free space evaluating the average compression > ratio of the files already stored on the disk. > - Using Stacker Anywhere will load COMMAND.COM once more in memory, thus > you lose some kb in free memory. > - SDIR (stacker replacement for DIR - it gives you the compression ratio for > each file) doesn't work on compressed floppies. > > For those who always wondered whether using already pklited .exe with stacker > was of any use or not, here's my answer: If you don't need programs to load > fast then use pklite as well, together with stacker, it will give you some > more kb of free space on your disk. > > Ciao, Alessandro > (owner of a third-hand used Fujitsu 512KB SRAM card - eventually found reading > a paper the day I decided to go buy a brand new expansive card. Don't know > if it is a 3V or not, but it seems to work fine and it was really cheap) > > > --------------- MESSAGE poqetpc.v001.n082.2 --------------- > > From: Murph of Borg > Subject: Re: Digest poqetpc.v001.n081 > Date: Tue, 4 Mar 1997 08:29:31 -0500 (EST) > MIME-Version: 1.0 > Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII > In-Reply-To: <199703040006.QAA21653@xxxxxxxx> > > > On Mon, 3 Mar 1997 poqetpc-errors@xxxxxxxx wrote: > > -> No device drivers, no changes to config.sys - just the one 57k file. I've > -> been running Win 286 from it for about a month now with no problems. > -> One little annoying side effect. In dos, every time you change > -> directories, drives or do just about anything at the dos prompt you get a > -> message from stacker that says "STACKER more than doubles your disk > -> capacity!! (type EXIT to unmount dirve B:)" I haven't figured out a way to > -> get rid of it yet, but since I use Windows and its not a problem there, I > -> havn't tried to hard either. > > Try typing PROMPT $p$g and see if that helps... :-) > > +============================================================================+ > | Dennis Murphy | System Operator, The DMJ BBS System OS/2 | > | Member, [Team OS/2] | Dialup: (201)271-9485 FidoNet: 1:2630/316 | > | MSU Support Technician | Official ProBoard Support & Beta Test BBS | > | Banyan VINES Tech Support |http://www.csam.montclair.edu/~dmurphy/dmjbbs| > | dmurphy@xxxxxxxx| ProBoard BBS: "The Choice of Professionals" | > +============================================================================+ > > > > --------------- MESSAGE poqetpc.v001.n082.3 --------------- > > From: babbie@xxxxxxxx (Earl Babbie) > Subject: Re: Digest poqetpc.v001.n081 > Date: Tue, 4 Mar 1997 06:58:58 -0800 > MIME-Version: 1.0 > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > > I have a 1-megabyte Verbatim SRAM card which works great in my Poqet. Even > greater, I can slip it into the PC slot of my Compaq subnotebook, and it > instantly shows up as a new drive--when I can copy from and onto. > > Here's my frustration. I just bought a wonderful TI 650 CDT running Windows > 95, and I've been eagerly anticipating reading the SRAM card with it, but > I've been unable to make it work. Even when I ask Windows 95 to add a > driver for an SRAM memory card, and it says it has, the card never shows up > anywhere I can read it. > > Any suggestions? > > Earl > ------------------------------------------------------- > | kth Law of CyberSpace: We are all, as individuals, | > | in over our heads. | > | Earl Babbie babbie@xxxxxxxx | > | Tel: 714-997-6565 Fax: 714-281-6213 | > ------------------------------------------------------- > > > > --------------- MESSAGE poqetpc.v001.n082.4 --------------- > > From: faethor@xxxxxxxx (J. Lawrence) > Subject: Where to find old Windows? > Date: Tue, 4 Mar 1997 08:23:02 -0600 (CST) > MIME-Version: 1.0 > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > > > Along with my Poqet classic, I've got a HP200LX and a Lexmark MB-15. > After reading sucessful installations of very old Windows versions, I've got > the itch to try myself. UNFORTUNATELY.. > > I own Windows 3.11, but have NO idea where I could find (purchase or > otherwise) a copy (is it 2.0?) I could use on a 8086/80186 platform. > > Appreciate any help, > > Jay > > > > --------------- MESSAGE poqetpc.v001.n082.5 --------------- > > From: Jay Hinkel > Subject: Digest poqetpc.v001.n081 -Stacker on a Poqet > Date: Tue, 04 Mar 1997 12:43:48 -0700 > > ERROR. > > My note about running stacker on an SRAM card is a bit in error. The > Stacker.exe file is a tsr that is run to access a compressed floppy. I had > to run STAC.COM to compress the floppy to start with. Sorry for the > misleading info. > > Jay > > > > --------------- MESSAGE poqetpc.v001.n082.6 --------------- > > From: bmoy@xxxxxxxx > Subject: Excited! and Found Outlet for SRAM!!! > Date: Tue, 04 Mar 1997 15:18:24 -0500 > > Eurika!! > > Finally, finally at last!, I figured out what I > was doing wrong with my minimum Windows3.0 files. > All the while, I thought it a 512K memory > limitation, but it was not! When you cold boot > the Poqet the default video mode selected is > momochrome or MDA, which is a text mode. I > realized this when I tried to run VR (the Vertical > Reader program); I couldn't figure out why it > wasn't running properly - key strokes used to exit > the program worked fine, but there was nothing on > the screen! That led me to think the poqet was > not in the correct video mode. (Also, thanks to > ddvteach@xxxxxxxx for getting me to > think that Windows3.0 can run on the Poqet) > > The difference with between Windows3.0 and VR is > that Windows returned a DOS error message when I > tried to run it in MDA mode -"divide overflow" > (still dunno what that means!) Bryan wote: "One > thing interesting about the Poqet is that it > needs the NMI > (Non-Maskable Interrup) on the processor to do > it's power management. Now the NMI is used for > other things, like floating point emulation in > some libraries, like Borland's -- which is why you > can't develop programs for the Poqet PC using some > versions of Turbo Pascal -- it needs the NMI to do > floating point emulation. > > Anyway...if Windows expects to have the NMI vector > all to itself, this might cause problems such as > you describe above. Well, maybe...I'm not that > sure, but it's possible." > > But that went over my head-dunno what NMI is > or how it can be manipulated, and this is the same > for LIM-MC, Poqet's memory manager. (Bryan, I > would be very interested in reading the Poqet's > Technical Manual on LIM-MC when you get a chance > to post it on your Web-Site!!) For instance, VNA > can be removed from memory by running "VNA/U" > (that'll save you 11,280 bytes of RAM!) can LIM-MC > be "uninstalled" besides re-booting without LIM-MC > in the config.sys?? Does Windows use LIM-MC??; > somehow, I don't think so. > > In experimenting with Windows3.0, I've chiseled it > down to it ABSOLUTE bare minimum, which makes it > possible to run it off a 720K floppy: (check this > out!) > > WINMIN FILES > CGA.DRV 45680 > CGAFIX.FON 4208 > CGAOEM.FON 4576 > CGASYS.FON 4368 > COMM.DRV 7088 > CONTROL.INI 149 > KEYBOARD.DRV 7041 > MOUSE.DRV 4896 (don't use a mouse, can anybody > figure out how to get rid of this seemingly > unnecessary file?? - By the way DDVTEACH, what > exactly does the NOMOUSE.DRV do; I don't think > you can use the keyboard mouse with that driver, > can you??) > MSDOS.EXE 46640 > SOUND.DRV 3622 > SYSTEM.DRV 2784 > SYSTEM.INI 296 (so far...) > WIN.COM 11118 > WIN.INI 2179 > > SYSTEM FILES > GDI.EXE 129691 > KERNEL.EXE 68928 > USER.EXE 231680 > > That's total of 574,944 bytes!!! And with this > configuration, I am able to run all of the > applettes! including Write with scalable font! and > ExcelV2.2a (so far Excel runs on 620K machine, I > havn't tried it on the Poqet yet!) (Gad! I so > excited!!) > > And now for some extra good news! There's the > Prolinear corp. which makes a 386 palmtop that has > 2Mb SRAM cards (Type 1), selling for $229!!! Isn' > that VOONDERBAR! They also sell 4Mb FLASH RAM > cards (Type II) for $235. Can anyone out ther > enlighten me on what FLASH RAM is and if the're > okay to use in the Poqet??? I understand (forgive > me, if I'm wrong) that they can be written over > but just not like a SRAM card - why?? And, er, > will this Type II work in the Poqet as well?? > Prolinear's number is 818-821-1881, ask for > Sharron Lee (tell'er I sent cha.) > > Well, gotta go now, there's work to do, y'know! > > (I'm so happy, happy, happy, happy, happy,... ... > ..., now to try to double up my SRAM... ... > > PS Len, hope this helps you out; e me if ya need > more info! -Bill > > > > --------------- MESSAGE poqetpc.v001.n082.7 --------------- > > From: "Brent B. Powers" > Subject: Re:Excited! and Found Outlet for SRAM!!! > Date: Tue, 4 Mar 1997 18:19:37 -0500 > MIME-Version: 1.0 > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii > Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > References: <199703042015.MAA29401@xxxxxxxx> > In-Reply-To: <199703042015.MAA29401@xxxxxxxx> > > bmoy@xxxxxxxx writes: > > From: bmoy@xxxxxxxx > > To: poqetpc@xxxxxxxx > > Subject: Excited! and Found Outlet for SRAM!!! > > Date: Tue, 04 Mar 1997 15:18:24 -0500 > > > > Eurika!! > > > > Finally, finally at last!, I figured out what I > > was doing wrong with my minimum Windows3.0 files. > > All the while, I thought it a 512K memory > > limitation, but it was not! When you cold boot > > the Poqet the default video mode selected is > > momochrome or MDA, which is a text mode. I > > realized this when I tried to run VR (the Vertical > > Reader program); I couldn't figure out why it > > wasn't running properly - key strokes used to exit > > the program worked fine, but there was nothing on > > the screen! That led me to think the poqet was > > not in the correct video mode. (Also, thanks to > > ddvteach@xxxxxxxx for getting me to > > think that Windows3.0 can run on the Poqet) > > > > The difference with between Windows3.0 and VR is > > that Windows returned a DOS error message when I > > tried to run it in MDA mode -"divide overflow" > > (still dunno what that means!) Bryan wote: "One > > thing interesting about the Poqet is that it > > needs the NMI > > (Non-Maskable Interrup) on the processor to do > > it's power management. Now the NMI is used for > > other things, like floating point emulation in > > some libraries, like Borland's -- which is why you > > can't develop programs for the Poqet PC using some > > versions of Turbo Pascal -- it needs the NMI to do > > floating point emulation. > > > > Anyway...if Windows expects to have the NMI vector > > all to itself, this might cause problems such as > > you describe above. Well, maybe...I'm not that > > sure, but it's possible." > > > > But that went over my head-dunno what NMI is > > or how it can be manipulated, and this is the same > > for LIM-MC, Poqet's memory manager. (Bryan, I > > would be very interested in reading the Poqet's > > Technical Manual on LIM-MC when you get a chance > > to post it on your Web-Site!!) For instance, VNA > > can be removed from memory by running "VNA/U" > > (that'll save you 11,280 bytes of RAM!) can LIM-MC > > be "uninstalled" besides re-booting without LIM-MC > > in the config.sys?? Does Windows use LIM-MC??; > > somehow, I don't think so. > > Window's doesn't use LIM-MC, and it can't be removed (it's in > hardware) from the Poqet > > > > > > In experimenting with Windows3.0, I've chiseled it > > down to it ABSOLUTE bare minimum, which makes it > > possible to run it off a 720K floppy: (check this > > out!) > > > > WINMIN FILES > > CGA.DRV 45680 > > CGAFIX.FON 4208 > > CGAOEM.FON 4576 > > CGASYS.FON 4368 > > COMM.DRV 7088 > > CONTROL.INI 149 > > KEYBOARD.DRV 7041 > > MOUSE.DRV 4896 (don't use a mouse, can anybody > > figure out how to get rid of this seemingly > > unnecessary file?? - By the way DDVTEACH, what > > exactly does the NOMOUSE.DRV do; I don't think > > you can use the keyboard mouse with that driver, > > can you??) > > MSDOS.EXE 46640 > > SOUND.DRV 3622 > > SYSTEM.DRV 2784 > > SYSTEM.INI 296 (so far...) > > WIN.COM 11118 > > WIN.INI 2179 > > > > SYSTEM FILES > > GDI.EXE 129691 > > KERNEL.EXE 68928 > > USER.EXE 231680 > > > > That's total of 574,944 bytes!!! And with this > > configuration, I am able to run all of the > > applettes! including Write with scalable font! and > > ExcelV2.2a (so far Excel runs on 620K machine, I > > havn't tried it on the Poqet yet!) (Gad! I so > > excited!!) > > > > And now for some extra good news! There's the > > Prolinear corp. which makes a 386 palmtop that has > > 2Mb SRAM cards (Type 1), selling for $229!!! Isn' > > that VOONDERBAR! They also sell 4Mb FLASH RAM > > cards (Type II) for $235. Can anyone out ther > > enlighten me on what FLASH RAM is and if the're > > okay to use in the Poqet??? I understand (forgive > > me, if I'm wrong) that they can be written over > > but just not like a SRAM card - why?? And, er, > > will this Type II work in the Poqet as well?? > > Prolinear's number is 818-821-1881, ask for > > Sharron Lee (tell'er I sent cha.) > > You can use Type I flash cards on a Poqet (I do), but you can't erase > or format them. I can't think of anything in a Flash card that would > require Type II, so it's most likely just a marketing ploy, unless > they really are that thick. > > > --------------- MESSAGE poqetpc.v001.n082.8 --------------- > > From: Bryan Mason > Subject: SRAM Cards in Win95 (was "Re: Digest poqetpc.v001.n081") > Date: Tue, 04 Mar 1997 15:44:52 -0600 > MIME-Version: 1.0 > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > > Earl, > > Have you looked at ? > You have to load two real-mode drivers in CONFIG.SYS to get SRAM cards to > work in Windows '95. You mentioned that you had asked Win95 to add a > driver for an SRAM memory card, but that sounds like the protected-mode > Windows drivers, not the real-mode drivers I mentioned above. > > Hope this helps. > > -- Bryan > > At 6:58am on 4 March 97, babbie@xxxxxxxx (Earl Babbie) wrote: > >I have a 1-megabyte Verbatim SRAM card which works great in my Poqet. Even > >greater, I can slip it into the PC slot of my Compaq subnotebook, and it > >instantly shows up as a new drive--when I can copy from and onto. > > > >Here's my frustration. I just bought a wonderful TI 650 CDT running Windows > >95, and I've been eagerly anticipating reading the SRAM card with it, but > >I've been unable to make it work. Even when I ask Windows 95 to add a > >driver for an SRAM memory card, and it says it has, the card never shows up > >anywhere I can read it. > > > >Any suggestions? > > > >Earl > > ______________________________________________________________________ > Bryan Mason, Menlo Park, California, USA, Earth > e-mail: > Poqet PC Home Page: > Poqet PC Mailing List: > > > --------------- MESSAGE poqetpc.v001.n082.9 --------------- > > From: Bryan Mason > Subject: Re: Excited! and Found Outlet for SRAM!!! > Date: Tue, 04 Mar 1997 15:44:53 -0600 > MIME-Version: 1.0 > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > > At 3:18pm on 4 Mar 97, bmoy@xxxxxxxx wrote: > > [ --- snip --- ] > > >(Bryan, I > >would be very interested in reading the Poqet's > >Technical Manual on LIM-MC when you get a chance > >to post it on your Web-Site!!) For instance, VNA > >can be removed from memory by running "VNA/U" > >(that'll save you 11,280 bytes of RAM!) can LIM-MC > >be "uninstalled" besides re-booting without LIM-MC > >in the config.sys?? Does Windows use LIM-MC??; > >somehow, I don't think so. > > LIM-MC is a device driver that supports a subset of the standard > Lotus-Intel-Microsoft (LIM) memory manger function calls. LIM-MC makes it > possible to swap parts of an SRAM card into upper memory on the Poqet PC. > Since LIM-MC is loaded in CONFIG.SYS, I don't think it can be uninstalled > (generally speaking, device drivers loaded in CONFIG.SYS can't be > uninstalled). > > [ --- snip --- ] > > >And now for some extra good news! There's the > >Prolinear corp. which makes a 386 palmtop that has > >2Mb SRAM cards (Type 1), selling for $229!!! Isn' > >that VOONDERBAR! They also sell 4Mb FLASH RAM > >cards (Type II) for $235. Can anyone out ther > >enlighten me on what FLASH RAM is and if the're > >okay to use in the Poqet??? I understand (forgive > >me, if I'm wrong) that they can be written over > >but just not like a SRAM card - why?? And, er, > >will this Type II work in the Poqet as well?? > > There are two kinds of flash cards out there. I'm not too sure which type > Prolinear is talking about, but it's probably "ATA" flash (described > below). In any case, if they're Type II thickness, they won't fit in the > Poqet PC's PCMCIA slots, although I understand that there are some Type I > to Type II adapters out there. > > "Linear" or "Intel" flash can be used on the Poqet PC as a kind of ROM > disk. The Poqet PC can read from linear flash cards, but it can't write to > them -- you need a PCMCIA adapter on a notebook or desktop to do that. > > "ATA" or "SanDisk" flash cards cannot be used at all on the Poqet PC. ATA > Flash cards look just like normal disk drives because they have a > PCMCIA-ATA interface, which is very similar to a standard IBM-PC hard disk > interface. Unfortunately, ATA Flash requires PCMCIA 2.0 compatibility, > which the Poqet does not have. > > Hope this helps. > > -- Bryan > > > > ______________________________________________________________________ > Bryan Mason, Menlo Park, California, USA, Earth > e-mail: > Poqet PC Home Page: > Poqet PC Mailing List: > > > --------------- END poqetpc.v001.n082 --------------- > > > * POQET PC LIST SUBSCRIBERS: When replying to digest messages, > * make sure that the "To:" field in your reply is set correctly. > * Some mail readers will automatically send your reply to > * . If you want to reply to the > * sender of the message or to the entire maililng list, you > * will have to adjust the "To:" field of your reply. > * > * If you wish to reply to the entire mailing list, set the "To:" > * field to . Remember, all mailing list > * commands should be sent to . > Question... by bmoy@xxxxxxxx From: bmoy@xxxxxxxx Subject: Question... Date: Thu, 06 Mar 1997 13:39:53 -0500 I gotta question... My experience with different laptops with CGA screens offered different ways of inverting screen colors; some used a sliding switch - where you can an any time invert black to white even when a program is running. Others used built in TSR, accessed by a sequence of keystrokes; in this case, a Bondwell 310, it was Alt-F9 or F10, which as far as I know was undocumented -even their support was not aware of this, I ran across it by accident by playing around with the keyboard. This has always been a problem for me because on a LCD CGA screen, Windows ONLY looks "right" in one and not the other because some colors are hard coded in the program, like icons, menu boxes, etc. Switching all the colors via Control Panel's Color Palette doesn't quite do it (although it's acceptable.) I've tried using DOS's Escape sequences, but that's only good if you're in text mode. Does anyone know of a way of reversing the Poqet's screen? through DOS or otherwise? Sorry about wanting the world on 512K... Mooocho Grraaatss for any help you can give. -Bill Re: Digest poqetpc.v001.n082 by Michael Fetterman From: Michael Fetterman Subject: Re: Digest poqetpc.v001.n082 Date: Thu, 6 Mar 1997 15:47:26 -0500 (EST) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: QUOTED-PRINTABLE In-Reply-To: <199703052008.MAA02972@xxxxxxxx> Bryan, your discussion of LIM-MC brings to mind the notion that perhaps=20 earlier versions of DESQVIEW will make better use of the Poqet's=20 resources in multitasking than WINDOWS. For that matter, LIM aside,=20 GEOWORKS might be most appropriate as a mort efficient GUI for=20 an 8088 processor in 512K RAM. I'll also mention that I have "converted" some thick cards to thinner/3.3 m= m=20 Type I cards thickness (a $15 faxmodem I recall) by prying one metal cover= =20 off and covering the contents with tape. Of course, that did nothing for=20 the differences in electrical specification, and the faxmodem card still=20 won't work in the Poqet. If LIM-MC is in con=FE=F2fig.sys, then by booting off a floppy, which I thi= nk=20 my manual alludes to, couldn't we boot without the config.sys/LIM-MC ? Michael Fetterman d005041c@xxxxxxxx HELP by Paul Bigwood From: Paul Bigwood Subject: HELP Date: Thu, 6 Mar 1997 21:58:34 +0000 MIME-Version: 1.0 HELP -- Paul Bigwood Hi New reader by Paul Bigwood From: Paul Bigwood Subject: Hi New reader Date: Thu, 6 Mar 1997 22:49:36 +0000 MIME-Version: 1.0 Hi, My name is Paul Bigwood and I have been using a POQET PC for nearly 7 years now. Only discovered this mailing list recently. I have a PQ-0164 in daily use. I've got the parallel cable, a serial port adaptor, and a couple of cards. Software wise I have AWORKS and usually that lives in Drive A with a 1MB card in drive B. I have used TOP before. This is an old DOS to do list processing package. Very simple to use and quite effective. I use the scheduler and address book every day. I mostly use the AWORKS spreadsheet, and have used the wordprocessor when on a plane. It was the size and weight of the Poqet that appealed to me first off. Battery power is phenominal. Batteries last for weeks. I use alkaline cells everytime. I usually buy the expensive long lasting ones. These I find are a better investment. Over the years I've tried lots of different shareware software packages for various activities. I was interested to read in the archives about using stacker on the cards. Interesting idea. I have got a copy of stacker somewhere, but didn't realise there was a .COM version! i'll have to dig it out and have a look. I wrote a program in C to force the display into CGA mode at boot up using the extended ROM BIOS routines, then discovered the sysmod command! I am currently working on decoding the scheduler fileformat so that I can write a utility to dump the diary to a printer. Anyone done this before? Look forward to reading the mail and contributing wherever I can. Best Regards, Paul Bigwood, Commercial Sales Manager, Yaesu UK Ltd.