There are a few experiences, however painful, that you should be aware of.
Many of us have wanted to replace and upgrade our present computers to the latest, snappier, computer, but have dreaded the daunting task of moving our data and programs over to the new machine.
Into the chasm have come a number of programs that permit one to link the old and the new computers together and to selectively move the desired programs and data to the new machine. Problem solved. No mess, no hassle. One-time shot using the program.
The reality is quite different.
I tried two programs: one made by Laplink and one by Alohabob PC Relocator. The first was a dud and worthless and the second seemed to do pretty well.
The Laplink product was so bad in documentation and execution that no one could even get the product to link to itself so the data could not be transferred. It is one of the few times that I have returned software to the store and gotten my money back.
A magazine-recommended Alohabob PC Relocator locked itself into communication quite easily, especially in view of the vastly superior diagnostics, messages and concept of implementation.
When all was completed with the transfer, which looked to be quite good, the resulting Windows 2000 computer could not boot - so in the end all effort was lost. I suspect that the transfer of Win98 to Win2K was not tested as well as the box advertised.
One interesting item was that I knew that I had a current load from the manufacturer. What came in the box, when checked with the website, was obsolete. The new load was downloaded and then the old key was pounded into a translator and a new key was obtained for the new load.
Next time I'll confine my transfer to Win98 to Win98 and see how it goes.
Which brings up the observation that Win98 still is the operating system of choice for home users. So few XPs are being sold by those in the know that, unless you like being a pioneer, it is best to specify Win98 even after all of this time. I have tried XP and find that it has lots of troubles adding software that is not in the original load. If you are happy with the software that comes from the factory, fine, but don't expect to do much adding.
And then there is the horrible saga of the demise of Power Quest products for non-Win98 products:
On a Win2K machine, I had the need to decrease the size of the C-drive to permit me to create a D-drive for backup purposes. Half way through this routine procedure, Partition Magic program looped and the program left the partition table on the drive in damaged condition such that no subsequent operating system could even be installed. The only way to fix the problem was to have Hank use Western Digital's low-level formatting program.
This brings me to the use of Symantec Ghost ($50 - mail order) as the preferred method of backup in case you are not using tape. The method is to use a separate drive, preferably on another physical drive, to receive a compressed copy of your data.
Our September speaker is Hank Skawinski and he usually has numbers of front-line cogent comments on that state of the computing world.
At the present moment I am also attempting to be able to operate a computer in Concord and some other locations so that I can fix problems remotely and avoid a trip out of town every time something needs to be tweaked.
While PCAnywhere is the odds favorite, getting it to link to Win2K from either XP or Win98 has proven to be a loss. Support is M-F only which doesn't do me enough good. Thus, I'm going to try GoToMYPC for $15 per machine per year and ignore PCAnywhere with its $160 price tag. I'll keep you informed.
Our SPAUG 20th anniversary is November. What do you say to a celebration at the November meeting? We should make a significant effort to locate and host all past Presidents. Can you send me a list of Past Presidents complete with e-mail and phone numbers?
Also in November are elections. So far we have most of the present Board willing to continue. Currently running for election are: John Buck, Susan Mueller, John Sleeman, Bev Altman, Dick Delp, Jim Dinkey, and Stan Hutchings. Several have not yet been contacted. This organization operates on volunteer labor and so if you see a need, please let me know. If you see an opening you would like, please let me know. If you see a SIG that you would like to try or need, please let me know.
Please note that the "November" meeting will be Wednesday, December 4. The Board figured that the day before Thanksgiving was too much of a conflict.
Mr. Kurt Schmucker of Connectix was our speaker, on the Virtual PC for Windows Version 5, with other products or issues included as he felt appropriate for us.
Virtual PC lets you run multiple operating systems simultaneously on a single PC -- ideal for technical professionals who need to support multiple computing platforms such as IT departments, software developers, call center professionals, and corporate trainers. Run applications such as Windows XP, 2000, NT, 98, 95, 3.1 -- even DOS, Linux, Netware®, Solaris™ or OS/2® simultaneously on the same PC with the utmost in compatibility and speed. Start and switch between operating systems with the click of a mouse -- no need to reboot! Share files between applications in different OSs. You do need a powerful computer for best results. Kurt had about 10 different operating systems on his laptop, and effortlessly called up each in turn.
Congratulations to Jim Dinkey, who won the doorprize Virtual PC for Windows!
Attendees: Dick Delp, Jim Dinkey, John Sleeman, Bev Altman, John Buck, Susan Mueller, Mildred Kohn, Stan Hutchings
Recently, I had a visitor in my home, who asked if she might use my computer to check the email on her own machine. Being naive, I said go ahead! What a mistake! After she left, I found that my machine was completely fouled up! I couldn't receive or send email, the desktop looked complete foreign!
In desperation I called Jim, who came over and looked at the ugly situation. I had been using an old Apple monitor that worked fine, but Jim thought the monitor was part of the problem. I hurried down to the Micro Center (at Jim's suggestion) and got a DAEWOO monitor at an excellent price. Jim came over again and felt that he would have to take my tower back to his lab and work on it, which he did. He spent a great deal of time getting me up and running.
The objective of this story is tell the members (and the world at large) what a terrific job Jim did for me. In passing, I must mention that I had recent surgery, which left me weak and generally incapacitated.
I can never thank Jim enough for the time he spent getting me up running!!
Problem: Convert my daughte's many existing Sony analog video tapes of my grandchildren growing up to digital format prior to editing and burning to CD-Rs or DVDs (discarding 75-90% of the uninteresting hours).
I called several video transfer companies and got quite an education. I hope this is good data (from them). Unfortunately I gained knowledge as I went down the list so I could ask more questions of the latter companies.
There are apparently three major digital video file formats:
I had called 5 local stores in the yellow pages under Video Transfer. Their telephone number, general location, and price for Sony Hi8 analog to digital conversion are listed below:
If you had DVDs made and then wanted to edit them (probably true, or why bother) you would need to install a DVD player on your computer. These are getting cheap and serve as a CD player also.
These prices make the hardware/software applications (at $150) look economically attractive. I wonder though how their quality compares with these video transfer company products? Anyone want to experiment going both ways. I'm sure Kevin Lynn who provided a recent talk on this subject wold do the self transfer for us, if we asked nicely.
This is in reply to the query from Jeanette Brown regarding the purchase of a DVD burner for transferring analog VHS tapes to a DVD.
An important thing to consider is the compatability of the DVD the burner produces, with other DVD players. The ongoing format battle between manufacturers of DVD player/recorders presents the consumer with the same dilemma that took place between Sony and its Beta tape recorders and the other manufacturers with the VHS format. Buy a burner that will produce DVDs that are compatible with the largest number of DVD players. You may find that Phillips produces a DVD that has a format not compatible with most players. Of course, if you intend to use the Phillips for all playbacks it is not an important issue.
I recently used MediaLink (Palo Alto), a Production and Duplication company, to burn a DVD from a VHS tape. In anticipation of a future purchase I asked which burner they used. They use a Panasonic DMR-E20 [N.B. -short review at profeel and a testamonial at technophile.com]. They pointed out it is not the top-of-the-line for Pansonic but it has turned out excellent product and produces a DVD that is quite compatible with most other DVD players. There may be updates on this model.
There is light at the end of the tunnel. The manufacturers seem to have agreed on a common format (Lazer Blue), but it will probably be a couple of years before they are all producing DVD burners using this format. Also look for advances in CD technology that will accomodate sufficient megabytes to produce longer length videos.
I suggest a subscription to Computer Videomaker magazine if you are thinking of getting into videography and computer editing. If so, think digital Mini-DV as opposed to digital 8mm for your camera, and Pinnacle Studio as entry level software to computer editing. Later when you are comfortable with PC editing think Adobe Premier 6.5 or possibly Pinnacle Edition which is just coming out as a competitor to Adobe Premier and even Avid which is more on the pro level.
Here are some pictures taken at the August 28 SPAUG General Meeting with the $37 Sipix Blink camera under the ambient light conditions. It is 2" x 2" and 0.6" thick, with 8MB internal memory. Ultra-compact and lightweight, using a AAA alkaline battery, the SiPix StyleCam Blink is the go-everywhere digital camera. Use the neck strap to carry the camera around your neck or clip it to your belt-loop or backpack with the included swivel clip. The StyleCam Blink is a digital camera, streaming video camera, USB video camera, and video conferencing camera all in one. The camera is on sale at Fry's stores and at Fry's online Outpost.com for under $40. These 640 x 480-pixel resolution images have been reduced from actual size 8.6" to 5" wide.
