Date: Mon, 19 Apr 1993 16:17:24 -0800
From: david_ryeburn@sfu.ca (David Ryeburn)
Subject: System 7 Emergency disks using ShortFinder
Recently Brian Gaeke posted an application called ShortFinder 1.0
(posted as util/short-finder-10.hqx). It can be used to launch or
terminate processes. This includes the possibility of quitting the
Finder if there is a (normal) Finder and it is running, or starting
it if it is not running. ShortFinder uses about one-seventh the disk
space of a regular System 7 Finder, and runs in far less RAM. This
report shows how ShortFinder can be used as a Finder substitute on a
high-density floppy disk to make a System 7 emergency disk.
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One can use ShortFinder without changing its name, creator, or type
in addition to or in place of the regular Finder. It is obvious how
to use it, and why one might want to use it, in addition to a
regular Finder on a hard disk. It can also be used unmodified in
place of a Finder on a floppy startup disk. To do this the System
file and the ShortFinder application should be placed loose on the
floppy disk, not inside a System Folder. Begin with a copy of the
System 7.0 or 7.0.1 Disk Tools disk. Extract the System file from
the System Folder. Trash the remainder of the System Folder
including the folder itself. Place a copy of ShortFinder next to
the System file. You will then have over 300K of room left on your
high density floppy disk for useful applications and other items.
The boot blocks on the startup disk should be changed so that the
first ASCII entry of "Finder" is replaced by "ShortFinder 1.0" (and
the hex entry immediately preceding this should be changed from
"06" to "0F" since "ShortFinder 1.0" has fifteen letters instead of
six) but the second entry of "Finder" in the boot blocks should be
left unaltered. The result will be that if such a disk is used as
a startup disk, the ShortFinder program will open up automatically
as a Finder normally would, and then it will allow you to open
whatever other application or applications you may have on the disk,
use them, and eventually quit them. When you are finished using the
floppy startup disk, Shut Down and Restart choices are available
>From within the ShortFinder application. (When using ShortFinder
without a real Finder, do not make the mistake of quitting or
terminating ShortFinder itself, since if you do, the only thing
left for you will be the hardware Reset button.) I will call this
way of using an unaltered copy of ShortFinder as a Finder substitute
without a System Folder METHOD 1. METHOD 1 works well, but without a
System Folder one cannot use Extensions.
There is another way to use ShortFinder in place of a Finder, which
I will call METHOD 2. Again begin with a copy of the Disk Tools disk.
Trash the Finder inside the System Folder and in its place put a
copy of ShortFinder. Change its name from "ShortFinder 1.0" to
"Finder" and its creator and type from "sFdr" and "APPL" to "MACS"
and "FNDR". My disk includes an Extensions folder containing
Gatekeeper Aid 1.2.7 and the Disinfectant 3.1 INIT. Outside the
System Folder it includes Disk First Aid 7.1, a copy of TeachText
7.0, a READ ME file containing information similar to that in this
report, and a copy of ShortFinder Docs (Word 5.0), documentation
in Word 5.0 format which accompanied ShortFinder 1.0 when I
downloaded it and which the author of ShortFinder wants always to
accompany it. Other extensions, and Control Panels containing INIT
code, can be placed (as is done on my disk) inside an Extensions
folder inside the System Folder, or inside a Control Panels folder
inside the System Folder, or loose inside the System Folder. Such
Extensions will load at startup, and the INIT code in such Control
Panels will load, but the Control Panels themselves will not be
accessible for altering their settings from whatever they were when
first placed on the disk.
METHOD 1 is much like what Norton Utilities does with their emergency
disk; they put "Norton Utils" in place of the first "Finder" entry
in the boot blocks, and prefix it by the hex entry "0C" since "Norton
Utils" has twelve letters. They too leave the second "Finder" entry
as it is. Norton Utils opens up automatically at startup, and when
one finally quits it, since no Finder is present one is offered the
choices Shut Down and Restart. The advantage in using ShortFinder
under METHOD 1 rather than doing (with whatever useful application
you wish to have on your emergency startup disk) exactly what the
Norton Utilities emergency disk does with Norton Utils is that with
ShortFinder one can open any or all of several applications on the
startup disk (if there is room), rather than automatically open up
just one application.
The Silverlining PGM disk does it all a different way. There La Cie
has their own small Finder substitute inside a System Folder (like
METHOD 2) but their Finder opens automatically into a ReadMe file
outside the System Folder which in turn has a Transfer menu on which
one can open (one at a time) other applications on the startup disk
outside the System Folder. On the Silverlining PGM disk these
applications are Silverlining and Disk First Aid. Other applications
(limited only by available disk space and your courage) can be added
or substituted. Extensions and Control Panels can also be added, as
in METHOD 2. One advantage in using ShortFinder under METHOD 2 rather
than using La Cie's Finder substitute and ReadMe file is that with
ShortFinder again one can run more than one of the applications on
the startup disk at a time. A second advantage is that the software
being used is relatively inexpensive shareware rather than the
excellent but expensive software from La Cie. Finally, when one
licenses Silverlining from La Cie permission is not explicitly given
to use their Finder substitute and Read Me file for any purposes
other than as expected on their PGM disk.
Not having upgraded to System 7.1 yet, I have not used either
METHOD 1 or METHOD 2 with a System 7.1 System file and ShortFinder.
I would appreciate hearing how they both work, if someone tries them.
The address of the author of ShortFinder is:
Brian Gaeke
The Dimensional Gate Co.
201 The Alameda
Middletown, OH 45044-4805
USA
GEnie E-mail: BRG
Internet e-mail: brg@cerf.net
I am not associated with him, except as a satisfied user of his ShortFinder
application.
April 19, 1993
David Ryeburn
Internet e-mail: david_ryeburn@sfu.ca