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From: elharo@shock.njit.edu (Elliotte Rusty Harold)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc,comp.sys.mac.printing,comp.answers,news.answers
Subject: Miscellaneous Macintosh frequently asked questions (FAQ)
Supersedes: <macintosh/misc-faq_840381472@rtfm.mit.edu>
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Date: 2 Sep 1996 16:17:39 GMT
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Summary: This document answers a number of the most frequently asked
questions about Macintoshes on Usenet. To avoid wasting bandwidth
and as a matter of politeness please familiarize yourself with this
document BEFORE posting.
Keywords: FAQ, Macintosh, Mac, macintosh, mac, misc, miscellaneous
X-Last-Updated: 1996/08/09
Originator: faqserv@bloom-picayune.MIT.EDU
Xref: news1.ucsd.edu comp.sys.mac.misc:112472 comp.sys.mac.printing:9876 comp.answers:16143 news.answers:64641
Archive-name: macintosh/misc-faq
Version: 2.4.1
Last-modified: August 9, 1996
Maintainer: elharo@shock.njit.edu
URL: http://www.macfaq.com/miscfaq.html
Miscellaneous Frequently Asked Questions
========================================
comp.sys.mac.faq, part 3:
comp.sys.mac.misc
Copyright 1993-1996 by Elliotte Harold
Please see section 5.8 of the general FAQ if you wish
to redistribute or revise this document in any way.
Archive-name: macintosh/misc-faq
Version: 2.4.1
Last-modified: August 9, 1996
Address comments to elharo@shock.njit.edu
What's new in version 2.4.1:
----------------------------
Mostly this is a maintenance release to improve the setext
formatting and change a few URL's. Also
1.1) Help! I have a virus?
Word Macro viruses are becoming a big problem. Disinfectant will
not detect or cure them.
2.2) How do I print a PostScript file?
Adobe's PSTool works better than the LaserWriter Utility
on some non-Apple printers.
2.7) Why doesn't PrintMonitor work with the ImageWriter?
SuperLaserSpool has been discontinued.
2.10) Can I use a LaserJet or other PC printer with my Mac?
The Grappler has been discontinued.
3.1) How can I move files between a Mac and a PC?
I realized this question hadn't been substantially revised
in almost four years. Therefore I rewrote it to take into account
the ubiquity of Superdrives, the presence of the Internet,
the bundling of Macintosh PC Exchange, and Windows95's
long filenames.
3.3) Should I buy SoftPC or a real PC?
I've updated this to reflect Windows 95 and current versions
of SoftWindows.
3.5) Should I buy a DOS compatibility card or a real PC?
I revised this to reflect current hardware and software.
4.1) How can I password protect a Mac?
MacPassword has been abandoned.
4.2) How can I password protect a file?
Cryptomactic has been discontinued. I now recommend
ultraSecure.
6.9) Where can I find the 1984 Quicktime movie?
I no longer know a location for this file. If anyone
does, would you please let me know?
6.12) How do I run software that needs an FPU on a Mac that doesn't
have one?
This question has been revised to reflect the existence of PowerFPU.
Table of Contents
-------------------------------------------------------------------
I. Viruses
1. Help! I have a virus!
2. Reporting new viruses
II. Printing and PostScript
1. How do I make a PostScript file?
2. How do I print a PostScript file?
3. Why won't my PostScript file print on my mainframe's printer?
4. Why are my PostScript files so big?
5. How can I print PostScript on a non-PostScript printer?
6. How do I make my ImageWriter II print in color?
7. Why doesn't PrintMonitor work with the ImageWriter?
8. Why did my document change when I printed it?
9. How can I preview a PostScript file?
10. Can I use a LaserJet or other PC printer with my Mac?
11. How can I print grey scales on my StyleWriter I?
12. How can I edit a PostScript file?
III. DOS and the Mac
1. How can I move files between a Mac and a PC?
2. How can I translate files to a DOS format?
3. Should I buy SoftPC or a real PC?
4. Should I buy Executor or a real Mac?
5. Should I buy a DOS compatibility card or a real PC?
IV. Security
1. How can I password protect a Mac?
2. How can I password protect a file?
3. How can I password protect a folder?
4. How can I prevent software piracy?
5. How can I keep a hard drive in a fixed configuration?
V. Sound
1. How can I copy a track from an audio CD onto my Mac?
2. How can I extract a sound from a QuickTime movie?
3. How can I convert/play a mod/wav/etc. file?
VI. No particular place to go (Miscellaneous Miscellanea)
1. Are there any good books about the Mac?
2. How do I take a picture of the screen?
3. How do I use a picture for my desktop?
4. Can I Replace the "Welcome to Macintosh" box with a picture?
5. What is AutoDoubler? SpaceSaver? More Disk Space? Are they safe?
6. How do they compare to TimesTwo, Stacker and eDisk?
7. Where did my icons go?
8. Where can I find a user group?
9. Where can I find the 1984 Quicktime movie?
10. Do RAM Doubler and Optimem work?
11. I'm greedy. Can I triple my RAM?
12. How do I run software that needs an FPU on a Mac that doesn't
have one?
RETRIEVING THE ENTIRE FAQ
=========================
This is the THIRD part of this FAQ. The first part is also
posted to this newsgroup under the subject heading "Introductory
Macintosh frequently asked questions (FAQ)" and includes a complete
table of contents for the entire document as well as information
on where to post, ftp, file decompression, trouble-shooting, and
preventive maintenance. The second, fourth, fifth and sixth
parts are posted every two weeks in comp.sys.mac.system,
comp.sys.mac.apps, comp.sys.mac.wanted, and comp.sys.mac.hardware.misc
respectively and include many questions that often erroneously appear
in comp.sys.mac.misc. All pieces are available for anonymous ftp from
<URL:ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/macintosh/>
Except for the introductory FAQ which appears in multiple
newsgroups and is stored as general-faq, the name of each
file has the format of the last part of the group name followed
by "-faq", e.g the FAQ for comp.sys.mac.system is stored as
system-faq. You can also have these files mailed to you
by sending an E-mail message to mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu
with the line:
send pub/usenet/news.answers/macintosh/name
in the body text where "name" is the name of the file you want as
specified above (e.g. general-faq). You can also send this server
a message with the subject "help" for more detailed instructions.
For access via the world wide web use
<URL:http://www.macfaq.com/faqs.html>
VIRUSES (1.0)
==============
HELP! I HAVE A VIRUS. (1.1)
-----------------------------
90% of all problems reportedly caused by viruses are actually
due to mundane bugs in software (and 90% of all statistics are made
up :-) ). Check your system with the latest version of Disinfectant,
3.6 as of this writing, by the excellent John Norstad from
Northwestern University. See
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/Disinfectant.sit.bin>
Disinfectant is absolutely free. It's easy to use and can
protect your system from most known Macintosh viruses. Releases
to protect from new viruses are normally made within a day or two of
the first confirmed sighting and capture of a new virus, and make
their merry way around the electronic highways faster than any
Macintosh virus ever has.
Unfortunately Disinfectant does not protect your system from what
have become the pernicious Mac viruses, Word Macro Viruses.
If you don't use Microsoft Word, you don't have to worry about
these. If you do use Microsoft Word, Microsoft offers a free
Macro Virus Protection tool which detects suspicious Word
files when they're opened and gives users an option to open the
file without executing the macros, thereby ensuring that a virus
does not execute. The tool can also scan your hard disk for one
Word macro virus, the Concept virus. It can not scan your disks
for other Word Macro viruses.
<URL:http://www.microsoft.com/msword/freestuff/mvtool/mw1222.hqx>
You may want to consider investing in one of the payware
anti-virals that will detect and destroy these sorts of viruses
such as Symantec's SAM, about $90 street price. At the least you
should download and use Microsoft's tool at
I THINK I'VE FOUND A NEW VIRUS. WHAT DO I DO? (1.2)
-----------------------------------------------------
*DON'T* post a report to any comp.sys.mac.* newsgroup. 99% of all
suspected new viruses are merely mundane bugs in the system or
applications being used; and even if you really have found a new
virus, there's nothing we can do about it anyway. You'll only
generate a lot of panicked, follow-up reports from people who will
blame every crash of QuarkXPress on the new virus.
If your system is protected against known viruses by Disinfectant or
one of the other anti-virus packages and you suspect a new virus is
causing you trouble, first consult with the most knowledgeable local
guru about your problem. Nine times out of ten, he or she will
identify it as a boring, ordinary, known bug in the software. If you
are the local guru and still think you may have found a new virus,
and have thoroughly checked out all other possibilities, then, and
only then, send a detailed description of your problem to
j-norstad@nwu.edu. Check the Disinfectant manual for procedures to
follow before reporting a new virus.
Please remember that it is VERY unlikely you have actually found a
new virus. Around the world in all of 1992 only four new Macintosh
viruses were discovered. Of all the suspected Macintosh viruses
which were reported to Usenet before being isolated by a recognized
virus expert, exactly none were eventually confirmed. One
public virus report, the so-called M virus, turned out to be the
result of a boring, ordinary bug in a common extension. The report
which received the most attention, the so-called Aliens virus,
remains unconfirmed and was probably the result of corrupt system
software.
PRINTING AND POSTSCRIPT (2.0)
==============================
HOW DO I MAKE A POSTSCRIPT FILE? (2.1)
---------------------------------------
First make sure a LaserWriter driver is in your System Folder.
It doesn't really matter which one although LaserWriter driver
8.3.4 is the best. This driver is available from
<URL:ftp://ftp.support.apple.com/pub/apple_sw_updates/US/Macintosh/Printing/LaserWriter/LW_8.3.4.hqx>
and works with System 6.0.5 and later. If you're using the System 6
driver, you'll need a Laser Prep file in your System Folder as well as
the LaserWriter driver and will also need to turn off background
printing. Once you've verified that there is indeed a LaserWriter
driver in the System Folder, select LaserWriter in the Chooser.
A dialog box will probably pop up informing you that the LaserWriter
requires Appletalk and asking if you want to turn Appletalk
on. Whether you have AppleTalk or not click OK. Then select
Page Setup... from the File menu to format your document
for the LaserWriter. Next select Print... from the File menu.
If you're using LaserWriter driver 7.0 or later, the Print
dialog box that appears will have a radio button for Destination
near the bottom. Click PostScript File. The Print button at the
top should change to a Save button. Click it and you'll get a
standard file dialog asking you what to name and where to save
the PostScript file.
If you're using LaserWriter driver 6.0.x or 5.2, the procedure
is more complicated. When the Print dialog box pops up, position
the cursor over the Print button and hold the mouse button down and
keep it down like you're going to click and drag. Then, with your
other hand, press and hold the K key. If you'll eventually print
the file on a non- Apple PostScript printer, especially one not
designed with the Macintosh in mind, also hold down the Command
key. Using Command-K instead of plain K includes some Mac specific
information non-Apple-oriented PostScript printers need to know
about. Now let the mouse button up. When you see a message box
that says "Creating PostScript file," take your finger off the
K key.
After you've gotten the message "Creating PostScript file" you
should find a file called PostScript0 in the same folder as the
application you were printing from. This is the file you just
printed. Rename it before you forget what it is. If you print to
disk (what this whole process is officially called) more than once,
the second file will be called PostScript1, the third PostScript2,
and so on. It really is much easier to use the System 7
LaserWriter driver.
HOW DO I PRINT A POSTSCRIPT FILE? (2.2)
----------------------------------------
On a Macintosh you'll need the LaserWriter Font Utility
available on the high density TidBits disk from System 7 or the
More TidBits disk from the 800K distribution. A more feature-rich
version called simply LaserWriter Utility is available from
<URL:ftp://ftp.support.apple.com/pub/apple_sw_updates/US/Macintosh/Printing/LaserWriter/LaserWriter_Utility_%287.6.2%29.hqx>
If you have a non-Apple printer, you may have more luck with the
similar PSTool from Adobe, available at
<URL:ftp://ftp.adobe.com/pub/adobe/misc/programs/pstool.sea.hqx>
These utilities allow you to send files to the printer in such
a way that PostScript commands get interpreted as PostScript rather
than as text to be printed. If you're printing to a PostScript
printer connected to something other than a Macintosh, you'll need
to consult your local system gurus. A simple "lpr filename.ps"
works on my Sparc, but your mileage may vary.
WHY WON'T MY POSTSCRIPT FILE PRINT ON MY MAINFRAME'S PRINTER? (2.3)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Moving PostScript files between the Macintosh and other platforms used
to be as dark an art as existed in the Macintosh universe. With the
LaserWriter 8 driver, it's no longer so complicated. You will need a
PPD file for your printer. Many are available in
<URL:ftp://ftp.adobe.com/pub/adobe/PPDfiles/MAC>
Be sure to select the options for PostScript Level 1 and ASCII
text PostScript files in the Print dialog box. Finally if you're
still having problems try using only genuine PostScript fonts, no
TrueType or bitmapped fonts; and don't include any fonts in your
document that already reside in the printer or on the host system.
Hugo Ayala's shareware control panel Trimmer will help with this
if host available fonts are other than the standard 13 which the
LaserWriter 8 driver has an option to omit. See
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/Trimmer.sit.bin>
If you've installed QuickDraw GX you can ignore PPD files.
So far in my limited tests I've found that the PostScript files
produced by QuickDraw GX seem to be quite portable across different
printers.
Unfortunately the LaserWriter 8.1 and later drivers are
incompatible with older versions of most Aldus products, Canvas, and
QuarkXPress. Until you upgrade you may need to continue using an
older version of the LaserWriter driver. In this case you should
experiment with your combination of application software, LaserWriter
driver, and printer to see what works best. If you're using the
System 6 LaserWriter driver, try using Command-K instead of K
to create the PostScript file in which the Laser Prep header is
included. The System 7 LaserWriter drivers include this header
automatically though Trimmer will leave it out.
More importantly Trimmer also lets you select which fonts to
include in your PostScript file. Try using only genuine PostScript
fonts, no TrueType or bitmapped fonts; and don't include any fonts
in your document that already reside in the printer or on the
host system.
The freeware DMM-LaserWriter Stuff can customize your pre-8.0
LaserWriter drivers in several different, useful ways. Among other
possibilities this package can modify a LaserWriter driver so that
the PostScript files it creates are more compatible with non-Apple
printers and printing to disk is the default. The upload to the
mainframe from which the PostScript file will be printed may also
make a difference. Normally you need to transfer the file in pure
Binary format, neither MacBinary nor ASCII. See
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/DMM_LW_7_Stuff.sit.bin>
WHY ARE MY POSTSCRIPT FILES SO BIG? (2.4)
------------------------------------------
Versions 7.0 and later of the LaserWriter driver automatically
include all the fonts you use in your document plus the LaserPrep
information plus the TrueType engine (if you're using any TrueType
fonts) in the PostScript file. Thus a 3K document formatted in 90K
of fonts can easily produce a 300K PostScript file. If these fonts
are present on the system you'll be printing from, they don't need
to be included in the document. You can remove them with the
shareware control panel Trimmer or the free UNIX utility StripFonts.
If you're using the LaserWriter 8 driver, you can manually select
an option to leave out all fonts or just the standard thirteen
faces of Times, Courier, Helvetica, and Symbol though for more
control you'll still need StripFonts or Trimmer. See
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/Trimmer.sit.bin>
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/StripFonts.shar>
HOW CAN I PRINT POSTSCRIPT ON A NON-POSTSCRIPT PRINTER? (2.5)
--------------------------------------------------------------
For most users who only want to print to common
printers like DeskWriters, StyleWriters, or Personal LaserWriter
LS's, the basic version of TScript will suffice. ($145 street).
The more expensive version of TScript also works with more
esoteric printers, particularly very-high-end color printers
and imagesetters.
If you're printing to a StyleWriter, then GDT Softworks
StyleScript is also an option at $149. See
<URL:http://www.gdt.com/stylescript/>
HOW DO I MAKE MY IMAGEWRITER II PRINT IN COLOR? (2.6)
------------------------------------------------------
Applications such as SuperPaint 2.0 and MacWrite II that
support the original eight-color model for QuickDraw graphics only
need a color ribbon to print in color. The shareware GIFConverter
can open and print a variety of graphics file types in excellent
dithered color. Jeff Skaitsis's $1 shareware CheapColor can also
dither PixelPaint and PICT2 files on an ImageWriter II. See
<URL:http://www.kamit.com/gifconverter.html>
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/GIFConverter.sit.bin>
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/CheapColor.sit.bin>
If you have a Macintosh with a 68020 or better CPU, the
payware MacPalette II provides general purpose color printing
from any application that prints on a QuickDraw printer (e.g. NOT
Illustrator). MacPalette II is about $45 street. If you need
more information the publisher, Microspot, can be contacted
at (800) 622-7568. QuickDraw GX can also provide general purpose
color printing from any application that prints on a QuickDraw
printer (though with a much larger memory footprint).
WHY DOESN'T PRINTMONITOR WORK WITH THE IMAGEWRITER? (2.7)
----------------------------------------------------------
You need to upgrade to System 7.5 and install QuickDraw GX. This
requires a Mac with at least five megabytes of RAM. Eight megabytes
is a more realistic figure. However the background printing in
QuickDraw GX is quite stable and does not significantly decrease
the speed of foreground applications.
The above-mentioned MacPalette II provides background printing on an
ImageWriter under System 7 and a 68020 or better CPU. These are
fully commercial products. There are NO freeware, shareware, or
other ftpable solutions that work under System 7 so get out your
credit cards. At $45 for MacPalette but less than $300 for a
vastly superior DeskWriter or StyleWriter II you may want to forgo
the software and buy a better printer instead.
If you're still using System 6 and have no plans to move to
System 7, there is a shareware product called MultiSpool from Italy;
but it is not System 7 compatible and prints only under MultiFinder.
See
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/MultiSpool.sit.bin>
WHY DID MY DOCUMENT CHANGE WHEN I PRINTED IT ON SOMEONE ELSE'S PRINTER? (2.8)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There are many different reasons this can happen. Far and away
the most common problem is using the wrong printer driver. BEFORE
you start formatting your document, make sure you have a printer
driver for the printer you'll use for the final draft in your system
folder and have selected that printer in the Chooser. Then choose
Page Setup... from the File menu to let the application know what
sort of output it should try to match the display to.
The second most common problem is font confusion. Make sure
you know exactly which fonts are in your document; and, if you're
printing to a PostScript printer, make sure PostScript versions of
these fonts are available to that printer. On newer printers you
might also be able to use TrueType fonts; but PostScript is still
the standard, especially if you're eventually going to Lino for
camera ready output.
The third most common source of trouble is poor formatting,
especially in Microsoft Word. The Mac is not a typewriter, and
you shouldn't use it as one. Don't use tabs as a substitute for
indentation; don't force a page break with carriage returns; and
NEVER use spaces to position anything. If you're writing a resume
(by far the most common source of formatting problems for Word
users), give serious thought to using the well-formatted resume
template that comes with Word to help you avoid problems with
your final printout.
IS THERE A UTILITY TO PREVIEW POSTSCRIPT FILES ON THE MAC? (2.9)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Net godhood awaits the first person to write a working shareware
or freeware PostScript previewer for the Mac. The payware product
TScript allows viewing PostScript files on the Mac, but this is a
large package with other purposes and even the light version costs
over $100. Aladdin Enterprises' GhostView can preview some PostScript
files, but tends to crash. Be sure to save your work before launching
it. See
<URL:http://www.webcom.com/~glyphic/projects/macgs.html>
<URL:ftp://ftp.cs.wisc.edu/pub/ghost/aladdin/mac/>
Adobe's Acrobat Distiller (part of Adobe Illustrator and
Acrobat Pro) can convert most PostScript files into PDF files
you can view with Acrobat Reader or Illustrator. See
<URL:ftp://ftp.adobe.com/pub/adobe/Applications/Acrobat/Macintosh/ACROREAD.MAC.hqx>
CAN I ATTACH A LASERJET OR OTHER PC PRINTER TO MY MAC? (2.10)
--------------------------------------------------------------
If your printer isn't a PostScript printer with an AppleTalk
interface, you need PowerPrint from GDT Softworks. It includes
the necessary printer drivers and serial to parallel cable to
connect a Macintosh with any common PC printer including HP
LaserJets and DeskJets. If your printer is uncommon you can
always ask the vendor before ordering. Street price is
about $95.
HOW CAN I PRINT GREY SCALES ON MY STYLEWRITER I? (2.11)
--------------------------------------------------------
The StyleWriter II driver 1.2 works with the StyleWriter I
and will print greys. You can get it from
<URL:ftp://ftp.support.apple.com/pub/apple_sw_updates/US/Macintosh/Printing/StyleWriter_II_(1.2).hqx>
Updated versions of Print Monitor and Printer Share are also
available. See
<URL:ftp://ftp.support.apple.com/pub/apple_sw_updates/US/Macintosh/Printing/PrintMonitor_(7.1).hqx>
<URL:ftp://ftp.support.apple.com/pub/apple_sw_updates/US/Macintosh/Printing/Printer_Share_(1.1.1).hqx>
When printing on a StyleWriter I with this driver, be sure
not to select the Clean Print Head option in the Print Options
dialog box. This damages the print head of the StyleWriter I.
The StyleWriter I+ patch will remove StyleWriter II specific code
from the driver including the option to clean the print head. See
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/StyleWriter_I+_patch.sit.bin>
HOW CAN I EDIT A POSTSCRIPT FILE? (2.12)
-----------------------------------------
In the most basic sense PostScript files are just ASCII text, so
if you're familiar with the PostScript programming language you can
edit PostScript in any good text editor. However if you want to edit
the PostScript files graphically, you need Adobe Illustrator 5.5 or
later. Use the bundled Acrobat Distiller to turn the PostScript file
into a PDF file which Illustrator can import and edit. If the file
includes embedded EPS bitmap images you may also need Photoshop or
another paint program to edit those.
DOS AND THE MAC (3.0)
======================
HOW CAN I MOVE FILES BETWEEN A MAC AND A PC? (3.1)
---------------------------------------------------
This isn't as frequently asked a question as it used to be since
Apple started bundling Macintosh PC Exchange with System 7.5.
As long as Macintosh PC Exchange is loaded any Mac with a
Superdrive (that is all Macs sold since the introduction of
the IIx in 1990) can read, write and format 3.5 inch PC floppies.
Macintosh PC Exchange does not support Windows 95's long file names
though. For that you'll need the commericial product Dayna DOS
Mounter.
System software versions 6.0 though 7.1 include Apple File Exchange
instead, a minimal program to read, write and format 3.5 inch PC
floppies in a Superdrive. Apple File Exchange is difficult to use
and violates at least half of Apple's user interface guidelines.
(Can anyone explain why no other software company violates as
many of Apple's user interface guidelines as Apple itself does?)
If you don't have a Superdrive, the easiest way is to transfer the
files across the Internet or a LAN. If that's not an option,
perhaps because you'rue transferring files from a really old DOS box
and you don't want to waste your time trying to get it to talk to
your ISP or network, then you can always move the files between two
computers with a null-modem cable connected between their serial
ports and a reliable communications program. You can get a
null-modem cable from any good electronics store. Make sure the
cable you buy has the appropriate connectors for the Mac and PC
you'll be connecting. Hook one end of the cable to the printer or
modem port on your Mac and the other to a serial port on the PC.
This should work just like a very high speed (57,600 bps) modem
connection except that you'll probably need to turn on local echo in
your communicatins programs.
HOW CAN I TRANSLATE FILES TO A DIFFERENT PLATFORM? (3.2)
---------------------------------------------------------
With the increasing popularity of cross-platform development,
many Macintosh programs like Adobe Illustrator, Adobe PhotoShop,
and Microsoft Word are able to save directly to a format readable
by DOS or Windows programs. You'll still need to mount the DOS
floppies in the Mac drive using one of the products discussed above
or do a default translation from within Apple File Exchange.
Although translators for Apple File Exchange could theoretically
be designed to translate files made by applications without these
capabilities, AFE has never really caught on. The best solution is
a payware product by DataViz called MacLink Plus. MacLink Plus,
about $70 street price, can translate over 1000 DOS, Windows,
Macintosh, and NeXT formats back and forth. For $25 more the Pro
version comes bundled with a copy of Macintosh PC Exchange. Some
translators are also bundled with some of the CD versions of
System 7.5 and with certain PowerBooks and Performas.
SHOULD I BUY SOFTPC OR A REAL PC? (3.3)
----------------------------------------
The various versions of SoftPC and SoftWindows run most DOS and
Windows software on a Macintosh as advertised; but even on the
fastest PowerMacs, you'll only achieve speeds around the level of a
486/25. This may be adequate for some Windows 3.1 and DOS software,
but 32-bit Windows 95 programs slow to a crawl. My 100 MHz
PowerBook 5300c could play solitaire using SoftWindows 95, but even
simple operations like unzipping files tied up my machine for
hours. For adequate Windows 3.1 performance you probably need a
PowerMac with an L2 cache and at least 32 megabytes of RAM.
Furthermore there are some nagging compatibility problems,
especially with CD-ROMs. When I tested SoftWindows 95 I was never
able to get a CD-ROM mounted on the Windows desktop, even with the
help of Insignia technical support. The bottom line is that if you
have a fast PowerMac with lots of RAM and only an occasional need to
run Windows 3.1 or DOS software, then SoftWindoows 3.0 may be
useful. But if you need to use Windows 95 or Windows NT, or Windows
3.1 on a daily basis, then you really should buy a PC or perhaps a
As of summer, 1996, there are three versions for 68040 Macs, SoftPC
3.0, SoftPC Professional 3.1, and SoftWindows 1.0. These emulate an
80286 with an 80287 math coprocessor and support extended memory.
SoftPC 3.0 ($99 street) supports 16 color EGA graphics. SoftPC
Professional 3.1 ($185 street) requires a 68030 Mac, adds support
for 256 color VGA graphics and expanded memory, and includes Netware
client software. SoftWindows 1.0 ($300 street) requires a 68040 Mac
with at least 10 megs of free RAM and fourteen megs of free hard
disk space (plus any disk space you want to allocate to DOS and
Windows files). It includes all of the above plus Windows 3.1 and
is optimized to make Windows performance tolerable (if not exactly
speedy) on a fast Quadra. There are two versions for PowerMacs,
SoftWindows 3.0 and SoftWindows 95, which emulate a 486 and provide
VGA graphics and all networking support. SoftWindows 3.0 ($299)
includes Windows 3.1 and DOS 6. SoftWindows 95 ($350 street)
includes Windows 95.
SHOULD I BUY EXECUTOR OR A REAL MAC? (3.4)
-------------------------------------------
ARDI's $99 Executor/DOS 1.2 allows some Macintosh applications
to run on a PC. It also lets a PC read and write Mac formatted high
density floppies and hard disks, and at only $99 Executor's doesn't
cost much more than a dedicated utility to do this alone. That this
works at all is nothing short of amazing and a tribute to the talents
of ARDI's programmers, especially since they've received no help from
Apple. However the limitations on what it will run are decidedly
non-trivial. For instance it won't run the Finder, System 7,
HyperCard or many other applications and does not support color,
extensions, serial ports or printing. Version 2.0 which is due
out sometime last summer will remove some of these limitations
and add support for color and printing. Upgrades will be $59
for Executor 1.2 owners.
Executor requires a 386 or better processor, a VGA monitor,
five megabytes of disk space, four megabytes of RAM and a mouse.
Given the limitations of the current version you're probably better
off buying a cheap Mac than Executor. If you'd like to see for
yourself you can ftp a demo copy from
<URL:ftp://oak.oakland.edu/pub/msdos/emulator/
A NextStep version for both Intel and Motorola machines which
does support printing and the serial ports is also available, but
it's more expensive: $499 commercial, $249 educational. You can
retrieve this from
<URL:ftp://ftp.cs.unm.edu/pub/ardi/Executor_NEXTSTEP>
SHOULD I BUY A DOS COMPATIBILITY CARD OR A REAL PC? (3.5)
----------------------------------------------------------
There have been three generations of DOS cards from Apple as well as
numerous products from Orange Micro and Reply. All put some form of
X86 processor on a card inside your Mac that shares the Mac's
memory, monitor and hard disk. Different cards have different
speeds, features and compatibility levels. However all are real
PC's, not emulators, and can run almost any software you can run on
an equivalently equipped PC. Nonetheless all have some compatibility
problems, and are almost or more expensive than an equivalent PC that
includes its own monitor and hard drive. Unless your desk space is
severely limited or you find yourself frequently (i.e. minute-to-
minute, not hour-to-hour) needing to switch between a Windows and a
Mac environment, then you should buy a real PC instead.
The original Apple DOS Compatibility Card, codenamed Houdini, puts a
genuine 486SX/25 PC with with DOS 6 inside a Centris 610, Quadra 610
or Quadra 800 though it is only officially supported on the Quadra
610. Windows is not included, but can be added by the user. The
card shared the Mac's RAM and hard drive with the Mac system and
applications. However it did contain a slot for an optional 72-pin
SIMM. If this SIMM is present then the DOS card uses it instead of
borrowing memory from the Mac. COM and parallel ports are mapped to
the Macs modem and printer ports. Networking is questionable, and
there's no SoundBlaster support or means of adding ISA cards.
Apple's second effort at a DOS compatibility card, code named
Houdini II, raised the bar to a 486DX2/66 chip and added Windows
3.1. SoundBlaster and networking support was also added. This card
only runs in the PowerMac 6100 and Performa 6100.
<URL:http://product.info.apple.com/productinfo/datasheets/dt/doscompatibilitycard.html>
The current Apple DOS card has been renamed the Apple PC
Compatibility Card, reflecting the decreasing importance of DOS in
the age of Windows. Nonetheless only DOS 6.22 is bundled. If you
want Windows you'll need to buy it separately. This card is designed
for PCI based PowerMacs, that is the 9500, 8500, 7600, 7500, and
7200 series. It includes either a 100 MHz Pentium or a 75 MHz Cyrix
586, eight megabytes of onboard RAM, expandable to 72 or 64
megabytes, and can run Windows 95 or Windows 3.1. It cannot run
Windows NT, Linux or OS/2. Street price is a little over $1000 for
the Pentium card, a little under $1000 for the 586 card. However the
most cost-effective way to get is as part of a bundle with a
PowerMac 7200/120 called, simply enough, the PowerMac 7200/120 PC
compatible, about $2900 street. The performance of this card is
adequate but not great. It is definitely not as fast as an
equivalent PC. Furhermore it slows down your Mac too because
the too CPU's compete for shared system resources, notably the
I/O bus
<URL:http://product.info.apple.com/productinfo/datasheets/dt/pccompcards4ppc.html>
Reply and Orange Micro both manufacture a number of DOS
compatibility cards for both NuBus and PCI Macs. They offer a wider
range of options than does Apple, including the ability to run
Windows NT or OS/2. However they're also more expensive ranging
between about $1000 and $2000 dollars. At these prices it begins to
make sense to buy a real PC unless your desk space is severely
restricted.
SECURITY (4.0)
==============
HOW CAN I PASSWORD PROTECT A MAC? (4.1)
----------------------------------------
A number of payware, shareware and freeware products exist
for the purpose of preventing a Mac from being accessed without
a password. Some of the more easily defeated products, mostly
shareware, use a system extension or startup application to display
a splash screen that doesn't go away until the proper password is
entered. Most of these can be bypassed by any of several methods
including booting off a floppy or a different SCSI device,
disabling extensions with the Shift key at Startup, or even
dropping into the built-in debugger.
Products that are more difficult to defeat (mostly payware)
don't allow a hard disk to be mounted until the proper password
is entered. Most of these can be defeated by loading a different
driver with a hard disk formatter like FWB's Hard Disk Toolkit
after booting from a floppy. No program of this type provides
hacker-proof security. Nonetheless the better programs do provide
a minimum level of protection from casual snoopers or intruders.
My choice of commercial products in this category is Citadel
from Datawatch ($60 street). Citadel is a complete Macintosh
security program that provides password protection for hard disks,
file and folder protection via DES encryption, screen locking, and
the best protection I've ever seen against accidentally locking
yourself out of your hard drive while still keeping intruders out.
It's not totally intruder-proof, (No such product is.) but it does
provide more reliable protection and more value for the money than
any similar product I'm aware of. Some hard disk formatters also
offer optional password protection. Notable in this category is
FWB's Hard Disk Toolkit Personal Edition, about $50 mail-order.
HOW CAN I PASSWORD PROTECT A FILE? (4.2)
-----------------------------------------
The best (and in many ways only) means of protecting a
sensitive file from prying eyes is encryption. Many encryption
utilities are available on the net and as part of various payware
products. Most will keep out the casual snooper, but fail miserably
when faced with a knowledgeable and determined hacker. All but one
fail in the face of an attack by an organization with the resources
of a large corporation or government.
For basic protection I recommend using DES encryption. Several
payware and freeware products do this including the above mentioned
Citadel and J. Clarke Stevens' $10 shareware MacEncrypt.
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/MacEncrypt.sit.bin>
DES is not unbreakable, but the only known attack requires
an investment in the seven figure range. The DES algorithm has
withstood the test of time, and it's unlikely that any "holes"
exist in the algorithm which would allow a cheaper or faster
attack provided reasonable intelligence is used in the choice of
passwords. (i.e., don't use any variant of a proper name or any
word which can be found in a dictionary as a password.)
If you truly are worried about an organization with seven
figure resources trying to break into your files, you need an
encoder that uses a more secure version of DES with a larger
keyspace. Currently I recommend usrEZ's ultraSecure, $140 street.
Its Triple-DES encryption is the most secure protection you can
buy off the shelf, and it also offers file, folder, and hard
disk protection.
HOW CAN I PASSWORD PROTECT A FOLDER? (4.3)
-------------------------------------------
A first line of defense would be to use ResEdit, FileTyper, or
a similar tool to set the invisible and locked bits on the folders
applications, and documents you want to protect. If there are
files in the protected folder that need to be accessible, you
can put aliases to them in the Apple menu items folder or use an
application and document launcher like Apollo to grant access to
them. This won't stop a knowledgeable or determined hacker, and
protecting the system folder in this fashion may cause problems
under System 7; but it will cure 95% of your
random-user-moving-things-around problems.
If you want to lock out more sophisticated users, you may want
to consider Empower Professional from Magna ($150 street). You might
also consider David Davies-Payne's $10 shareware SoftLock, a utility
that can make a disk read only. However this can cause problems
with some applications that can't run from a read-only disk. See
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/SoftLock.sit.bin>
HOW CAN I PREVENT SOFTWARE PIRACY? (4.4)
-----------------------------------------
Novice pirates may be stymied by simply storing an application
on a server and only granting read privileges to it. However anyone
who's been around Macs for more than a week knows that StuffIt,
Compact Pro, or any of a dozen other utilities can copy
read-only files.
For more reliable protection of software on networked Macs
consider KeyServer from Sassafras Software. KeyServer installs
special code into each protected application so that it won't
run without a key obtained from a server. Thus a pirate may
be able to copy an application but won't be able to use it.
KeyServer asymptotically costs about $20 per protected Mac which
may seem a little expensive just to prevent piracy, but KeyServer
also works as a license manager. The number of available keys can
be set at the server so that only as many keys for a given package
as you have legal licenses will be passed out. Therefore you only
need to buy as many copies of applications as will actually be in
use at any given time, not as many as you have Macs. KeyServer will
more than pay for itself the next time you upgrade or purchase new
software. You can get a demo version of KeyServer and various
sales propaganda and pricing info by sending email to
sassafras@dartmouth.edu.
HOW CAN I KEEP A HARD DRIVE IN A FIXED CONFIGURATION? (4.5)
------------------------------------------------------------
Steve Jobs designed the Macintosh with the implicit philosophy
(which became explicit when he founded Next) of "one person, at
least one CPU." A Mac is intended to be easily customizable and
configurable. While fun, this capability does not readily lend itself
to reliability in a lab based environment where users love to
install their favorite TrueType fonts to crash your color PostScript
printer, pirated applications to annoy the SPA, RAM hogging
extensions that play the 1984 Quicktime movie in a continuous loop
as wallpaper, and two megabyte System beeps illegally sampled from
Star Trek. On stand-alone Macs you probably can't do better than
setting the locked bit of files and folders you want to protect and
praying. If you have a Syquest or Bernoulli drive, store a copy of
the hard disk the way it ought to be on a cartridge and use that to
restore the disk to the desired state.
If the Mac is attached to a network, however, then Purdue
University's freeware RevRDist can automate the process of
restoring the hard drives of any number of Macs to desired
configurations at specified times. It can replace modified files
with original copies, delete unwanted files, install new software,
replace old software that may have been disabled, reset preference
files, and, in short, take care of just about anything that depends
on the presence, absence, location or contents of specific files
(which is almost everything). RevRDist is completely configurable
and even comes with source code so you can modify it in the
unlikely event it doesn't do exactly what you want. RevRDist
does not offer specific protection against destructive users, but
it does make provisions for running off a floppy so in a worst
case scenario a hard drive can be rebuilt automatically after
booting off a specially prepared floppy. See
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/RevRdist.sit.bin>
SOUND (5.0)
============
HOW CAN I COPY A TRACK FROM AN AUDIO CD ONTO MY MAC? (5.1)
-----------------------------------------------------------
First you must have a CD-ROM drive that supports this feature.
Currently this means an Apple CD-300, CD-300i or CD-300+ or a drive
built around one of the following mechanisms: Chinon 535, CDS-535;
Hitachi 6750; NEC 3x, Sony CDU-75S, CDU-76S, CDU-561, CDU-55S,
CDU-7511, CDU-8003, CDU-8003A, CDU-8004, and CDU-8005; Toshiba
3301, 3401, 3501, 3601, 3701, 4100, 4101, 5201, 5301, 5401, and 5901;
Matsushita CR-8004 and CDU-8004A, CR-8005 NEC CDR-400, CDR-500,
CDR 510, CDR 600, CDR-501, CDR-511, and CDR-900; Pioneer DR-U124x;
Plextor PX-43CE, Plextor PX-43CH, PX-45CH, PX-43CS PX-45CS, PX-63CS,
and PX-65CS. This is not a complete list. Most non-portable CD
drives sold in 1995 or later, support this feature. However, many
third-party drives lack some of the audio features of the later
Apple CD drives. The drives that do have more audio features are
normally based on Toshiba, Sony, or Plextor mechanisms. Drives
notable for not supporting digital audio extraction include the
Apple CD SC, the Apple CD SC+, the Apple CD 150, and the Apple
PowerCD.
If you have a non-Apple drive you'll also need FWB's CD-ROM Toolkit
software, about $55 mail-order, since the driver software bundled
with non-Apple drives doesn't generally support digital audio
extraction. Next you need Quicktime 1.6.1 or later and an
application that can play Quicktime movies such as Simple Player.
See
<URL:ftp://ftp.support.apple.com/apple_sw_updates/US/Macintosh/Supplemental_System_Software/QuickTime_(1.6.1).hqx>
<URL:ftp://ftp.luth.se/pub/infosystems/www/ncsa/Mac/Apple/SimplePlayer.sit.hqx>
Turn virtual memory off, put the CD in the CD player, and choose
Open... from the File menu of Simple Player. Open the audio track you
want and click Convert. Type a name for the new movie, choose a place
to save it, and click save.
HOW CAN I EXTRACT A SOUND FROM A QUICKTIME MOVIE? (5.2)
--------------------------------------------------------
Movie2Snd is a freeware program available from all the usual
places which will extract sounds from a QuickTime movie and save
them in Mac sound file format. See
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/Movie2Snd.sit.bin>
HOW CAN I CONVERT/PLAY A MOD/WAV/MIDI ETC. FILE? (5.3)
-------------------------------------------------------
Balthazar will play Windows .wav files and convert them to
System 7 sound files. Brian's Sound Tool is a free drag and drop
sound conversion utility which converts to and from Mac sound files
and Windows .wav files. It also converts Soundblaster .voc files,
UNIX .au files, and AMIGA AIFF files to Macintosh sound files.
MacTracker and SoundTrecker will play and convert Amiga
MOD files. See
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/Balthazar.sit.bin>
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/BriansSoundTool.sit.bin>
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/MacTracker.sit.bin>
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/SoundTrecker.sit.bin>
To play MIDI files you need QuickTime 2.0 or later, bundled with
System 7.5 and probably available on a local bulletin board. You
also need an application that can play Quicktime movies such as
MoviePlayer.
If the MIDI files come from another platform (such as a post
in alt.binaries.midi) you first need to change their file type to
"Midi". Any standard tool such as ResEdit or FileTyper can do
this. Alternately you can use Peter Castine's free drag and drop
application MidiTyper. See
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/MidiTyper.sit.bin>
<URL:ftp://ftp.apple.com/dts/mac/tools/resedit/>
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/FileTyper.sit.bin>
From within your Quicktime savvy application select Open...
from the File menu. Click once on the file you want to convert.
If your file doesn't show up in the dialog box at this point
then you didn't correctly set its file type. Remember that the
file type needs to be "Midi" with a capital "M" and a small "idi."
The "Open" button in the standard file dialog box should change
to "Convert." Click the Convert button. The file will be
converted to a Quicktime movie your Mac can play.
NO PARTICULAR PLACE TO GO (MISCELLANEOUS MISCELLANEA) (6.0)
=============================================================
ARE THERE ANY GOOD BOOKS ABOUT THE MAC? (6.1)
----------------------------------------------
While there are a number of excellent books covering specific
software packages, there are not many books that are generally
useful to someone familiar with the net. The Mac is Not a
TypeWriter by Robin Williams and The Macintosh Bible, by Arthur
Naiman, Sharon Zardetto Aker, and a cast of hundreds are two
exceptions. Both are published by PeachPit Press and are
available in finer bookstores everywhere.
The Mac is Not a TypeWriter should be required reading for
anyone using a Macintosh to produce printed matter. It teaches
the differences between typing and typography and shows you how
to avoid looking like a moron in print.
The Macintosh Bible is a reference book that's surprisingly
enjoyable reading. It's comprehensive enough to cover most
questions that appear in this newsgroup including the not so
frequent ones. It also includes lots of information you
probably need but didn't know to ask.
HOW CAN I TAKE A PICTURE OF THE SCREEN? (6.2)
----------------------------------------------
The Command-Shift-3 FKey that's built into all Macs will take
a picture of the entire screen. This won't work while a menu is
pulled down and always includes the cursor in the picture. In
System 6 Command-Shift-3 only works with black and white monitors
on compact Macs. The results are stored in a PICT file on the
root level of your System disk.
Nobu Toge's Flash-It, $15 shareware, will handle almost all
your screen capture needs. It works in black and white and color
under both System 6 and System 7, exports images to the clipboard
or to PICT files, captures pictures when menus are down, and can
capture either a user-selectable region or the entire screen. See
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/FlashIt.sit.bin>
The Beale Street Group's Exposure Pro ($78 street) covers all the
basics and throws in a host of editing tools besides. Sabastian
Software offers Image Grabber ($35 street) whose features include
timed capture, capture of the entire screen, one window, or a
particular rectangle, and scaling of the captured image.
If you order Image Grabber, please note the spelling. It's two
words, spelled correctly. Apparently a grammatical product name is
so unusual that three out of three mail-order companies were unable
to find Image Grabber in their database until I spelled it out for
them including the space between Image and Grabber. You can also
order it directly from the manufacturer at (206) 865-9343.
CAN I REPLACE THE "WELCOME TO MACINTOSH" BOX WITH A PICTURE? (6.3)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
First you need an application capable of saving documents
in Startup Screen format such as the freeware XLateGraf or the
shareware GIFConverter. See
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/GIFConverter.sit.bin>
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/XLateGraf.sit.bin>
Open the graphics file you want to turn into a startup
screen and select Save As... from the File menu. Then select
Startup Screen as the format to save into. Name the new document
"StartupScreen" (no space between Startup and Screen, both S's
capitalized) and put it in the System Folder. The next time the
Mac starts up you should see the happy Mac, followed by the picture.
HOW DO I USE A PICTURE FOR MY DESKTOP? (6.4)
---------------------------------------------
If you have a Macintosh with Color QuickDraw in ROM (Mac II
and later machines) get the init DeskPict
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/DeskPict.sit.bin>
Users of compact Macs (Plus's, SE's, and Classics) can pick
up BackDrop instead.
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/BackDrop.sit.bin>
All of these will replace the normal Macintosh desktop pattern with
a picture of your choosing saved in startup screen format. (See the
previous question.) Before saving your picture in startup screen
format be sure to convert it to the default application palette,
or your Mac may display color combinations distorted enough to
induce flashbacks to that Grateful Dead concert in 1976.
WHAT IS DISK DOUBLER? MORE DISK SPACE? SPACESAVER? NOW COMPRESS? (6.5)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Symantec's Norton DiskDoubler Pro ($80 street, formerly known
as SuperDoubler) is a utility that automatically compresses and
decompresses most files on your hard disk so that you can store
more files on it than you'd otherwise have room for. As well as
transparently compressing files DiskDoubler can make self-extracting
and segmented archives for transmission via modem or floppy disk.
Ideally you won't know it's present once you've installed it.
Norton DiskDoubler Pro is a bundle of what was previously known as
AutoDoubler, Disk Doubler, and Copy Doubler, which are no longer
available separately. The consensus of the net is that DiskDoubler is
fast and safe.
Alysis Software's More Disk Space ($39 street) is a competing
product similar in functionality to DiskDoubler. More Disk Space
has several unique features that make it more suitable for use on
a network than competing products such as a freeware init that
allows all Macs to use files previously compressed by More Disk
Space as transparently as if More Disk Space itself were installed
and the ability to create a "compression server" that can compress
files for all Macs on the network on demand. Thus a network of
several dozen Macs could use one $39 copy of More Disk Space.
More Disk Space uses the fastest compressor/decompressor on the
market, but MDS also saves substantially less space than the other
products. More importantly More Disk Space relies on undocumented
features of the system which will go away in future system software.
I recommend against using More Disk Space.
The latest entry in the increasingly crowded compression arena is
QuickFiler, a portion of Now Utilities which takes the place of
the discontinued Now Compress. Now Utilities includes many other
features besides compression and is thus the best overall value
despite its $70 street price. The QuickFiler component of Now
Utilities offers automatic and on-demand transparent compression
plus archiving compression that's on a par with StuffIt's.
QuickFiler is fast enough that I don't notice it's installed (as
is DiskDoubler) which is the point where I decide it's not worth
my effort to run detailed timing comparisons. QuickFiler does
compress tighter and thus save more space than any of the
competing products. Furthermore it's the only file-level program
that will transparently compress almost anything in the System
Folder. It's as fast or faster than its competitors; and
it frees up more space on a typical hard drive than any
competing product.
At about half the price of Now Utilities or DiskDoubler,
SpaceSaver ($35) from Aladdin Systems is also a good value,
especially since it can create and expand net standard .sit files
thus serving both archiving and transparent compression needs. The
compression is fast although it's not as tight as the competition's.
SpaceSaver does give up some speed by decompressing applications onto
disk rather than straight into RAM like other compressors. This may
improve compatibility with future systems but slows decompression and
contributes to file fragmentation, especially on very full disks.
Documents normally need to be decompressed onto disk regardless of
compressor, and SpaceSaver is faster than most for compressing and
decompressing documents. SpaceSaver has some minor incompatibility
problems with System 7.5.1 and 7.5.2 (but not 7.5.0 or 7.5.3).
HOW DO THEY COMPARE TO TIMESTWO, STACKER, AND eDISK? (6.6)
-----------------------------------------------------------
Golden Triangle's TimesTwo was a unique hard disk driver backed by a
misleading advertising campaign. Unlike the file-level compressors
discussed in the previous section TimesTwo is not an init that
patches the file system. Rather it is a hard disk driver similar to
Drive7 or HardDisk Toolkit. After a disk is formatted with TimesTwo
the Finder will report the disk as twice the size it actually is;
e.g. a forty megabyte disk will seem to be an eighty megabyte disk.
TimesTwo then uses compression to try to fit eighty megabytes of data
into the forty megabytes that's really there. If it can't compress
well enough to fit the eighty megabytes of data it promises (and it
generally can't), it creates a phantom file to take up the space it
overestimated. All data written to the disk will be automatically
compressed. This is the exact opposite of the marketdroid promises
that TimesTwo works without compressing anything. In fact it
compresses everything. It's reassuring to know that the market does
sometimes punish such sleazy advertising. Golden Triangle is out of
business and TimesTwo is no longer either sold or supported.
Stacker ($95) and eDisk ($62) work similarly to Times Two, the
main difference being that they are added on top of your current
hard disk driver rather than in place of it. This may allow you to
retain the partitions and other features of your current driver if
it's one Stacker or Edisk is compatible with. However both are
incompatible with a number of other driver level programs including
several disk formatters and security programs, most notably the
latest Apple driver for asynchronous mode on the 68040 Macs.
Alysis has made a very functional demo version of eDisk available
with the only restriction that it compresses at most three to two.
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/EdiskDemo.sit.bin>
Driver level compressors allegedly increase disk savings by
compressing everything whereas file level compressors exclude certain
frequently accessed files like the desktop file, most things in the
System Folder, and the hard disk data structures from compression.
However the existing file-level compressors use more efficient
compression algorithms than existing driver level compressors so they
normally save you as much or even more space. Furthermore the
exclusion of frequently accessed files from compression vastly
improves the speed of file-level compressed disks. Under driver
level compression since every file needs to be decompressed when read
or compressed when written, a driver-level compressed disk is
noticeably slower than the same Mac with a non-compressed disk or
even a Mac whose disk has been compressed with a file level
compressor. As one Apple VAR put it, "installing TimesTwo is like
dipping your drive in molasses." Stacker and eDisk have equally high
coefficients of virtual viscosity.
Driver level compressors are more popular in the PC world where it's
common to find a fast 486 CPU driving a slow IDE hard disk so that
the time savings from reading fewer physical blocks outweigh the time
lost doing decompression. In the Macintosh world the opposite
situation, a fast SCSI disk coexisting with a slow 68000 CPU, is more
common so driver level compression doesn't work as well. This may be
changing though. Stacker is now PowerPC native and may soon be able
to decompress files so quickly that disk access speed may actually
improve when it's installed. I haven't seen any benchmarks to show
this yet, but I expect that if current PowerPC chips aren't quite
fast enough to make this a reality, the next generation will be.
Using a file-level compressor on a disk already compressed by one of
these products will gain little if any space and will probably cut
your disk access speed in half again so you should use either
driver-level or file-level compression, not both.
All the transparent compression programs have had a number of bugs
and incompatibilities in their initial releases; and TimesTwo
Stacker, and eDisk are no exceptions. Unlike the file-level
programs, however, there have been a number of reports that the first
releases of all three of these utilities have caused data loss and
even corruption of entire hard disks. It is as yet unknown whether
these bugs are fixed in more recent versions. Given the known
incompatibilities, probable speed loss, and significant risk of data
corruption associated with driver level compression, I recommend that
you do not use any of these products at this time.
WHERE DID MY ICONS GO? (6.7)
-----------------------------
Your icons have passed on to a better place, but with a little
magic it's normally possible to resurrect them. Several utilities
including Norton Utilities for the Mac and the freeware drag-and-drop
utility Save-A-BNDL should retrieve your icons. See
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/SaveABNDL.sit.bin>
Rebuilding the desktop (Question 4.3 in the Introductory FAQ)
should also restore your icons.
WHERE CAN I FIND A USER GROUP? (6.8)
-------------------------------------
You can contact Apple's user groups liaison office at
(800) 538-9696, extension 500. They'll be happy to provide you
with contact information for a local Macintosh user group.
WHERE CAN I FIND THE 1984 QUICKTIME MOVIE? (6.9)
-------------------------------------------------
I'm damned if I know. If you figure out where, would you please
tell me? Thanks.
DO RAM DOUBLER AND OPTIMEM WORK? (6.10)
----------------------------------------
Connectix's RAM Doubler ($50 street) uses the PMMU on 68030 and
68040 Macs to fool the system into believing the Mac has twice as
much memory as it actually has. RAM Doubler provides the extra
memory through a combination of compressing data in RAM, letting
applications borrow memory from other programs that aren't using
their full allotment, and storing data that would normally be in
RAM on the hard disk. RAM Doubler requires System 6.0.5 or later.
It performs as advertised, providing more RAM for your applications.
RAM Doubler does this more efficiently and with less speed penalty
than virtual memory (which can't be used at the same time as RAM
Doubler) though most Macs do slow down by 5-10% when using it. RAM
Doubler works better with multiple applications than with a single
memory hog like Photoshop. Rule of thumb: For best performance
the memory used by the system plus the largest application
partition should be less than or equal to your physical RAM size.
Ideally RAM Doubler will be transparent to your system, but
there are incompatibilities between it and some applications and
extensions. In particular you should watch out for extensions like
CopyDoubler or SpeedyFinder which can slow your system to a crawl
when they try to use all the extra RAM they think they have (but
really don't) for caching files. RAM Doubler is also incompatible
with FAXstf 3.0, UltraShield, Times Two and the various development
versions of MacsBug. It works with MacsBug 6.2.2. If you must use
a development version of MacsBug, use 6.5d4 or later and RAMDoubler
1.0.2 or later. In general if an application works with virtual
memory, it should work with RAM Doubler.
The Jump Development's Group Optimem is a more expensive ($80 street)
competing product. Optimem doesn't increase available memory like
RAM Doubler does. Instead it forces applications to make more
efficient use of the memory they have. Optimem doles out RAM to
applications only as they need it rather than allocating fixed size
partitions at startup like the Finder normally does. Go to the Finder
and look at About this Macintosh... in the Apple menu. All the light
blue (or white on a black and white monitor) space in the bar beside
each application is RAM that application has been allocated but isn't
using. Optimem makes that memory available to other applications. In
effect it forces them to share. If you have a lot of white space in
your memory bars, then Optimem can help you. If you don't then RAM
Doubler is certainly a better choice. OptiMem and RAM Doubler may be
used together. However this is going to turn RAM Doubler into little
more than another version of virtual memory since it does its RAM
compression tricks using allocated but unused space while Optimem
eliminates that space. Since Optimem is less transparent than RAM
Doubler, Optimem is incompatible with more applications. Optimem
can, however, be disabled on an application by application basis.
The one big advantage OptiMem has over RAM Doubler is that it doesn't
require a PMMU. Thus it will run on 68000 series Macs like the Plus,
SE, and Classic.
I'M GREEDY. CAN I TRIPLE MY RAM? (6.11)
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You need RAM Doubler 1.0.1 or 1.0.2 for this trick. You can't
do this with RAM Doubler 1.0, 1.0.3, 1.0.4 or 1.5. Turn RAM doubler
off and reboot your Mac. Then open RAM Doubler with ResEdit. Open
the "Main" VCMD resource and use ResEdit's Find command to find the hex
digits A868. Just before these digits are the hex numbers 0002 0000.
This is a hexadecimal fixed point number that tells RAM Doubler how
much to multiply the RAM by. Change it to 00030000 for a RAM tripler,
00040000 for a RAM quadrupler, and so on. Then restart twice. You
will now have even more RAM. Of course the more RAM you ask for,
the more likely it becomes that RAM Doubler will need to use virtual
memory to meet your RAM demands thus slowing down your Mac. For large
quantities of RAM Apple's virtual memory is faster than RAM Doubler.
You can also use fractional multipliers as long as you remember that
the number you're changing is a hexadecimal fixed point number with
the "hexidecimal point" between the second and third bytes. For
example two and a half would be 00028000 which would make a "RAM
Double-and-a-halfer"
This trick is even easier with RAM Doubler 1.0.1. Instead of opening
the VCMD resource open the 'pref' resource. This resource contains
several fields. The one you want is called "multiplier value." This
field contains one hexadecimal fixed point number, 00020000. Change
it to 00030000 for a RAM tripler, 00040000 for a RAM quadrupler, and
so on.
Spencer Low's five dollar shareware product MaxRAM wraps a nice
interface around this procedure for those who aren't comfortable
exploring the bowels of their software with ResEdit. More
importantly MaxRAM even works on RAM Doubler 1.0.3 and 1.0.4 (though
not on RAM Doubler 1.5 and later :-(). See
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/MaxRAM.sit.bin>
HOW DO I RUN SOFTWARE THAT NEEDS AN FPU ON A MAC THAT DOESN'T HAVE ONE? (6.12)
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John Neil and Associates' $10 shareware ($20 for native PowerPC
version) extension SoftwareFPU emulates a floating point coprocessor
on an FPUless 68020 or 68030. See
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/SoftFPU.sit.bin>
This will let most (though not all) software that requires an FPU
run, albeit slowly. Software FPU does not work on 68000 Macs.
Version 3.0 will let some programs work on a 68LC040 Mac like the
Quadra 605, but due to a bug in the 68LC040 chip many programs may
crash. You'll need to test each program you use for compatibility.
SoftwareFPU is MUCH slower than a real FPU. It will not improve
performance for applications that do not absolutely require an FPU.
A faster payware version called PowerFPU is also available for
PowerMacs that need to run non-native programs that require an FPU.
Finally note that an earlier version of the same program called
"PseudoFPU" is still available at some archives. This is inferior
--
Elliotte Rusty Harold
elharo@shock.njit.edu
..