Installing the Reviews Files

The Reviews Files are a set of text files that have been archived (combined
and compressed by about 50%) to get them to fit on fewer disks.

If you have a hard disk, it is faster and more convenient to put them on it.
However, this will use a minimum of 2.5meg of disk space.

For just occasional use, you may be more willing to put up with the
slowness of floppies rather than tie up that much hard disk space.

A configuration file will be saved in the default directory when you install
this program. If the same directory is not the default the next time you start
the program, you will be prompted for the directory that contains the
configuration file. If you wish, use File Manager to move the configuration
file, CATALOG.CFG, to a different directory.

The Category List

Normally, the first window you see should be a list of categories. This program
requires a mouse. Using the mouse and the scroll bars, look through the category
list and click on a category.

The Subcategory List

Next you will see a list of subcategories for the selected category; select one.
The program descriptions for that subcategory will be displayed and you can use
the scroll bar to view the file.

The Reviews Window

While reading the file, you can click the Search button to search for a
particular subject. If you are not sure which category to look in, we suggest
that open a DOS window and use FGREP to search the Reviews files. Searching text
files is very slow, and FGREP is substantially faster than any search we could
do from this program. (Fgrep, included on the Reviews Disks, is a freeware
program by Chris Dunford.)

Creating an Order List

While reading the reviews, you can click on the name of a program that you are
interested in ordering, and it will be added to the Order List window. The Order
List window can be edited, lines delete or manually added, etc.

When you click on a name, the program will attempt to locate the disk number for
it. This should always work, but if it doesn't, you can search for the number
yourself and manually add it to the list.

When you are through, select Order to generate an order form. This is the surest
way to make sure that you have made all the correct selections for disk size and
prices. You can save an order form to disk and recall it later.

MegaDisk Sets

Some disks will show two numbers - a MegaDisk number and a regular number.

MegaDisk Sets are sets of similar or related program disks that we have
combined into a set for one low disk fee of $6.99/set. Some sets may be just
two disks; others, as many as six; most are four disks.

All disks in a MegaDisk set will be grouped together, so you can easily see
which disks are in the same set. If you look at a PsL News while reading these
files, you will find it even easier to spot the disks that go together.

If you want a $6.99 Set, delete the number after the 7000-series number;
if you want just one disk, delete the 7000 number. For example, File Express is
a two-disk set with the numbers "7026/0064[2]". Wampum has the same MegaDisk
number, "7026/1017".

If you want all three disks, order "7026" for $6.99. If you want just Wampum,
you can order "1017" for $5 (members may get a volume discount). If you want
just File Express, it normally would not make sense to order the two-disk set,
"0064[2]" at $5 per disk when you can get the MegaDisk set for $6.99.

The purpose of offering these low-cost sets is to make it more economical for
you to try programs that come on multiple disks, such as File Express and
PC-File, and/or to compare different programs of the same type, such as File
Express and Wampum, so that you can find the one that best suits your needs.

MegaDisk Sets are available either on multiple 360k, 5.25-inch disks or on one
1.44meg, 3.5-inch disk. We can copy the files onto 720k, 3.5-inch disks, but
there is a special handling fee of $3 per MegaDisk set.

On relatively rare occasion, we may have to remove a program from a MegaDisk
Set. IF YOU ARE ORDERING A SET MAINLY FOR ONE SPECIFIC PROGRAM, YOU MUST LET US
KNOW WHEN ORDERING SO THAT WE CAN VERIFY THAT IT IS STILL IN THE SET.

Public Domain & Shareware

PsL does not sell the software in our collection. We charge only a disk copying
and library maintenance fee. The software itself may or may not be free (other
than our disk fees) for you to use.

Public Domain Software is free software that is not copyright. You can use,
re-sell, or do anything else you want with public domain software.

Freeware Software is also free software, but it is copyrighted. You can use
it, but you cannot resell it, except as allowed for in the documentation.

Shareware Software is normally fully-functioning software with the user's manual
stored in a text file on disk. It is not free software. It is provided as
through PsL for a small disk copying fee so that you can try the software before
paying for it.

Shareware is comparable to (and often better than) software that you buy in a
store, but you get to try it out first and only have to pay for it after you
have determined if it meets your needs and you want to keep using it.

While Shareware works mainly on the honor system, registering normally has other
rewards (besides being honest): many authors will send you the latest version of
of the software, a printed, bound manual, technical support, and updates.

Small Program Disks

Disks in the PsL News Listing that have an asterisk by the disk number have lots
of small programs on them. Other disks normally contain a single large program.

PsL spends over 50 man-hours a month just keeping the Small Program Disks up-to-
date and cleaned up and organized. This time is in addition to the time we spend
testing, comparing, and reviewing new small programs.

We review hundreds of new small programs every month and add only the best,
which is usually about ten disks full of compressed files on what we call the
Monthly Additions Disks.

We take the programs from the Monthly Additions Disks and add them to the
existing disks in the library by category. Eventually, a disk for a particular
type of program will fill up and have to be split into two disks of more
specific categories. As a result, SMALL PROGRAMS MAY NOT STILL BE ON THE DISK
INDICATED IN THE PSL NEWS OR IN THESE REVIEWS FILES.

Any time you order a Small Programs disk primarily for one specific file or type
of file, you must let us know when ordering so that if the file has been moved
to another disk, we can send you the other disk instead.

System Requirements

The software described in the Reviews Files should work on any PC-compatible
computer that has at least two drives (eg: one floppy and a hard disk) and at
least 256k of memory - unless otherwise noted.

If you do not have a color monitor, you may need disk #860 (in U2-07) in order
to run programs that use CGA graphics.  If a program description indicates EGA
or VGA are required, there is no way to get the program to work on a mono
system.

Some programs that say they require a hard disk may run on systems with
high-capacity drives, such as a 1.44-meg, 3.5-inch drive.

If a program description indicates that a program requires DOS 2+ or DOS 3.3+
the plus sign means that the program will also work with any version of DOS
later than the version specified.

