旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴커 � 넴 � SOFTWARE YOU CAN USE 넴 � (Reviews) 넴 읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴켸� 賽賽賽賽賽賽賽賽賽賽賽賽賽賽賽賽 Keeping in line with this issue's focus on shareware this section takes a look at several programs people in the shareware industry may find useful. But, if you'd like to have more space on your hard disk; if you're using the DOS utilities to backup your hard disk; if you need a fax machine and don't want to pay more than $100; then you should read this section. Some of the software reviewed in this section is either freeware or shareware. They generally should be available from most shareware disk vendors and on BBSs. By the time the next issue comes out I hope to have established a relationship with several vendors from whom the shareware we review can be obtained. If you'd like to use, but can not find one of the programs reviewed here, the HSBJ is making available a disk with all of the shareware programs reviewed in this issue. Plus, we'll put whatever else we have around that looks interesting onto the same disk so you'll get a full disk. The cost for a disk is $5.00 ($6.50 outside North America) which includes S&H. Please specify either 3-1/2" or 5-1/4" disk size. By the way, here is an opportunity for disk vendors. We are not set up to sell disks on a one-at-a-time basis. The disk vending bus- iness I run is based on bulk mailing large quantities of the same disk. I would not mind it at all if there is a disk vendor (or several) that would like to advertise in this section and sell, along with their other disks, the programs reviewed in each issue of HSBJ. However, I should also mention that we will be reviewing retail software also, and although we will focus on shareware, I can not predict how many shareware programs will be reviewed in each issue. On another topic, if you have a program you'd like us to take a look at, please send a copy. If you offer your software as shareware, we require that you include the shareware version with what you send. And please note, we will not review shareware with limited features. Also, if you are using a program that competes with any of the software we've reviewed, and you feel it is better, please write and tells us about it. Review #1 FINDING MORE DISK SPACE The LZEXE utility. (Freeware. You may use this software without paying a registration fee). Published by: Fabrice BELLARD 451 chemin du mas de Matour 34790 GRABELS France Documentation Translated by: Luigi M. Bianchi A problem many shareware authors are facing is that, as software becomes more complex, it is becoming more difficult to fit programs on a single 360K floppy. There are many advantages to having your program fit on one 360K disk. Having it on two disks means some users may only get half of your program. Single disk programs cost users less to purchase from disk vendors. There are still a lot of computers ut there that only have 360K floppy drives. The 360K floppy is the lowest common denominator that insures nearly everyone can load your software on their computer. Disk vendors face problems such as authors completely filling disks, leaving no room for the vendor's files. And we all could use more space on our hard disks! The solution to all of these problems is a small utility called LZEXE. This utility compresses program files (EXE) files in the same way utilities such as PKZIP and LHA do, however the compressed file remains an executable EXE file. When the compressed file is run it decompresses in memory at such a fast speed that the time for decompression is not noticeable. Thus you end up with small EXE files that run as if they were not compressed. A good example is the HSBJ1.EXE file you are using to read this. Before using LZEXE the HSBJ1.EXE file was 117,582 bytes. After compression it is 74,861 - ALMOST HALF THE SIZE! Using LZEXE is simple. You just type LZEXE followed by the name of the EXE file you want to compress. The file is compressed and saved using the same filename. The old, uncompressed file, is not lost, however. It is renamed to replace "EXE" with "OLD" as the filename extension. There are some limits to using LZEXE. For example, it can not be used with Windows software. Windows programs are a different form of EXE file which can not be compressed using this utility. There are also some programs that store configuration information within the program code. These can not be compressed because the software would no longer be able to read the configuration information. LZEXE was written by a French programmer and the documentation was originally in French. An English language version is provided with the software, so there is no problem reading the manual. However, the help screen and any messages the software prints on the screen are in French. But don't worry, this is not a problem, because once you start LZEXE there is nothing further you need to do and you should never need to read the help screen or screen messages. This is a utility everyone should have. Whatever you are doing, it will save you disk space. DISK VENDORS PLEASE NOTE: The LZEXE utility can provide the space you need for your files and works well with nearly all EXE files. However, you should not use LZEXE on a shareware program without the author's permission. There maybe something inn the author's code that will conflict with having the file compressed. 旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴ADVERTISEMENT컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴커 � � � Here's the opportunity for you to directly reach readers who want to � � improve their business by finding the software that will save time, � � increase productivity, improve quality or help them to do a better � � job running their business. What opportunity am I talking about? � � � � ADVERTISE IN HOMECRAFT'S SMALL BUSINESS JOURNAL! � � � � For more information select the "advertising" option on the menu. � � � 읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� Review #2 MOVING FILES BETWEEN SEVERAL COMPUTERS The SAVE/LOAD utility. (Registration: $25.00) Published by: Battelle P.O. Box 8399 Columbus, OH 43201 Sooner or later everyone will have a problem affecting the files on a hard disk. It might be a file that gets scrambled because of disk fragmentation or cross-linked files. A bad sector might result in a damaged file. Or, as just about the only component in a computer with moving parts, your hard disk might just stop working. (It will happen to all hard disks). For these reasons, and many more, you should have a backup copy - preferably two copies - of the data and information on your hard disk. There are many excellent backup utilities such as Fastback and the utility that comes with PC Tools. However, you can expect to pay well over $100 to purchase a copy of any of these. If you have two or more computers, you are looking at spending $300 or more. The SAVE/LOAD utility provides a simple to use, less costly, alternative. The SAVE/LOAD utility was designed by the employees of a company called Battelle to help them transfer files between computers. That's something you usually want to do quickly and simply, without having to go through several layers of menus or options. As a result SAVE/LOAD is very simple to use. To backup the files in a directory on your hard disk, and use the B: drive to save the backup files, just type: SAVE *.* B: You can include all of the subdirectories by including the "/S" and typing: SAVE *.* B: /S Or you can backup your entire hard disk by typing the above command while in the root directory. The SAVE/LOAD utility will backup each file and prompt you whenever you need to put a new disk in the floppy drive. Recovering your files is just as simple. Put the first floppy disk of the backup set into the floppy drive (we'll assume you are using the B: drive). Then type: LOAD B: If the DOS prompt is not set for the directory you wish to recover the backed up files into, you can specify a path. The following example recovers the backed up files and places them in the C:\UTILITY directory. (If you backed up subdirectories, that subdirectory structure will be created based in the Utility directory). I've never seen a backup utility that is easier to use. The SAVE/LOAD utility does have some drawbacks. Since it was designed primarily to transfer files between computers, it does not include an efficient file compression capability. However, if you are using the hard disk backup utility that comes with DOS you can switch to SAVE/LOAD and have a better backup utility that is not limited to specific versions of DOS. Plus SAVE/LOAD is ideal for transferring large files between multiple computers. You could use PKZIP or LHA to compress files onto floppy disks, but there are some files that are too big to be compressed onto a floppy disk - especially if you have a older computer with 360K floppies. For example, I use an old 8088 for maintaining my mailing lists, but I also like to have a copy on the 386 on my desk. SAVE/LOAD is the only way I can copy the 5mb+ file from one computer to the other. Review #3 A FAX MACHINE FOR UNDER $100 Quick Link II Software (Retail Software) Published by: Smith Micro Software, Inc. P.O. Box 7137 Huntington Beach, CA 92615 A fax machine is essential to running a business. Yet, for a small home business just getting started the $600-$900 cost of a stand- alone fax machine can be too big of an expense. If that is the case, start looking at fax boards you can put in your computer. I've used ZOOM modems for several years so when I noticed a ZOOM send/receive fax modem on sale at Egghead for $99.00, it seemed like a good deal. I have a Xerox fax machine that is so old I can no longer get a service contract to maintain it. Since I don't want to be without a fax I felt the ZOOM send/receive would provide a good backup. This review looks at the combination of the ZOOM modem and the software that comes with it, Quick Link II. Installing the modem and software was easy. I connected the modem to the COM 1 serial port and the software was essentially self installing. When I booted the software the default configuration settings, with a few changes, were fine. The changes I had to make were mostly related to the specifics of my business, such as entering my phone number as the fax ID. The QuickLink II software is menu operated with drop down menus. I'm a dedicated ProComm user, but I found QuickLink II to be easy to use. Although I'll probably stay with Procomm just out of habit, I feel even new users can use QuickLink II with no problems. I started testing the modem capabilities by calling a few of my favorite BBSs. The software includes an phone list book that allows you to enter frequently called numbers. Once a number and number is entered in the phone list, all you need to do to place a call is highlight the one you want to call and push enter. The fax sending capability was just as easy to use. I used the DOS 5 editor to create an ASCII text document. Then after making a few menu choices I was able to quickly send a fax to my old Xerox fax machine. Receiving a fax turned out to be the only area in which I ran into a problem. No matter how I changed the configuration I could not get the ZOOM modem to receive a fax sent by the Xerox fax machine. The most difficult part of the problem was that Smith Micro Software only provides support via their BBS. Normally I like using a BBS for support because it allows me to call at my convenience, which is sometimes 3 am. In this case it was a problem because the phone lines on Smith Micro Software's end were very bad. It was difficult to make a connection and even when connected I would get garbage characters 25 to 30 percent of the time. Over the two months I've been testing this modem the phone line to Smith Micro Software has gotten a lot better and in talking on a voice phone with one of their support technicians earlier today I learned that G.T.E. has been working to fix problem. My problem with receiving a fax turned out to be related to the old Xerox fax machine. The ZOOM modem was able to receive a fax sent to me my Smith Micro Software as well as one sent by a friend in a neighboring office. There have also been one or two times when I've had trouble sending faxes from the Xerox to other people's fax machines, so the problem must be a mismatch between the old Xerox and today's current standards. Overall I feel I can recommend both the ZOOM send/fax modem and the QuickLink II software. You'll find the QuickLink II software bundled with various other brands of modems, so if you see it, you can feel comfortable that you'll have easy-to-use, workable software. < end reviews >